


Grey

by Genuka



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Bad BDSM Etiquette, Bondage, Bonding, Bunny Farm Escapee, Dom/sub, Dubious Consent, Dumbledore Bashing, Introducing science to purebloods, M/M, Manipulative Dumbledore, Mpreg, Mpreg Harry, Mpreg Severus, Potentially rough sex, Random Updates, Sane Voldemort, Weasley Bashing, Weirdly Maternal Nagini, binding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-03
Updated: 2017-09-09
Packaged: 2018-05-11 11:58:34
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 28
Words: 45,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5625787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Genuka/pseuds/Genuka
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry and Snape are captured only to be presented to the Dark Lord. With Snape badly injured Harry was on his own in an attempt to get them both out...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Capture and Revelation

**Author's Note:**

> This has been present in my Bunny Farm for a bit and I've been compelled to update it there. It was recently pointed out that its gotten to long to stay in the Bunny Farm and should be properly its own fic, especially since its gone long past the originally intended one-shot. 
> 
> The entire existing first 17k words will be posted in the correct chapter sections today.
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Let me go! Let go, you crazy bitch!" Harry yelled as Bellatrix Lestrange dragged him and a half conscious Severus Snape behind her across a large stone hall. Cackling, she tossed both of them in front of an ornate throne carved of ebony with redwood inlay at the back of the hall, at the feet of Lord Voldemort in all of his serpent hybrid glory, red eyes and all.

"And what treasure have you brought me my Bella?" Voldemort asked with a laugh before taking a proper look at the two captives that the cackling madwoman had tossed at his feet. "Well, well, well, Mr. Potter, how good of you to join us, and Severus... you have more than a few questions to answer."

"Sod off wanker! I'm tired of you all trying to kill me! None of you even bother to tell me why! I can't get anything from the other side either," Harry fumed.

Realizing a moment later that Snape wasn't yelling at him to shut up because he was actually hurt, Harry scrambled over to check one of the only teachers who had reliably tried to keep him safe. Quickly and with obviously far too much practice for his age and supposed background he checked the potions master over. When he checked for a concussion he found one and swore under his breath, carefully adjusting his grip and the way that Snape's head rested on the floor. The rest of the people in the room watched his actions with more than a little surprise as a gleam of interest and sudden avarice began to glitter in Voldemort's own gaze.

"Your diagnosis?" Voldemort asked casually, curious to know what his young enemy had concluded and what he would say on the matter.

"Concussion, a pretty bad one, still bleeding wound to the head, probably the reason he's got a concussion, something cut his side but his clothes and robes are soaking up the blood. He might be loosing too much, I'm not sure with the heavy clothes he wears and the fact that its black. The way Bellatrix dragged us in here didn't help any, and he could be bleeding internally after the way I saw him tossed into the side of a building by that mis-aimed blasting hex," Harry muttered absently as he continued trying to do what he could for the older wizard.

"~Tom, is this the sneaky spy? Has he hurt you? May I eat him?~" A hissy voice reached Harry's ears from somewhere near Voldemort's feet as Nagini slid out from under the man's throne.

"~No! You can't eat him, he's mine!~" Harry hissed back viciously, as he quickly moved between the snake and the downed professor, stunning the room into silence as they realized the snake language had come from _Potter_ of all people.

"~Yours? The mark on his arm says he's mine.~" Voldemort hissed back quietly, echoing through the rest of the room. Harry paled as he realized his mistake and refused to meet the man's gaze, while still doing his best to shield the man behind him. "~You will answer my questions, fully and truthfully or I will make you watch him die as he is torn apart. Have I made myself perfectly clear?~"

"Yes," Harry practically whispering his answer as he switched back into English.

"Why did you claim him as yours?" Voldemort asked, starting the interrogation, easily following the language switch. Harry shrugged non-commitally earning a warning. "Full and Truthful disclosure, little Harry."

"I honestly don't know. I just know that he's mine even if I didn't know until I said it. Its like something about him is... singing to me. Something on his left arm, or in his chest. I figured that the singing from his arm came from you and how you make my scar burn but the other..." Harry trailed off uncertainly. Voldemort watched the young man intently.

"You said that no one has explained to you why we are trying to kill you, is this true?" Voldemort asked, fully focused on the question and answer session.

"My Aunt and Uncle said my parents died in a car crash, that they were drunk driving and out of work. Hagrid said that you killed them and I've been asked enough times about this stupid scar that I figure he's probably right," Harry said, deciding to give the man a little bit of background for his answer. "The only concrete things I can get out of just about anyone is that I look like my father and have my mothers eyes and that you killed them. Sometimes I can get Sirius or Remus to tell me about pranks they pulled in school, but no one will explain why everyone is fighting or why I'm supposed to kill you. Any time I ask they tell me that you are evil and killed my parents and that all of you want to kill all muggles and muggleborns. Which is just stupid since without them we'd likely all be dead or insane. I'm working with what little information I have and you haven't exactly tried to prove them wrong."

"The muggles are nothing but animals!" Bellatrix screeched in outrage setting Harry back to fuming and glaring at her until Voldemort responded to the interruption.

"Bella! Enough!" Voldemort ordered harshly, silencing the witch with a glare as he contemplated Harry's answer before asking his next question. "What do you mean we would all be dead or insane without them?"

"When was the last time you went to muggle school?" Harry asked hesitantly, he quickly rushed through his explanation for the question when he saw the thunderous look on the man's features. "Its important, the information was only really found out in the 1940's and 50's, they didn't even start teaching it for a while after that, though the ancient Greeks and stuff knew about some of it."

"Since I suspect we will all have to learn it if it truly is that important why don't we assume that nothing is known and go from there?" Voldemort offered after a moment's contemplation. Harry nodded in understanding and tried to figure out how he was going to explain genetics and the effects of inbreeding to a bunch of pureblood supremacists.

"Right, I don't know a whole lot about it but the basics are taught in muggle primary so I'll give it a go and I'll try to make it so everyone can understand," Harry informed him, earning an understanding nod for him to continue. "Everyone knows that a child gets something from both parents to make the baby right? But the thing is muggles discovered that if both parents are to closely related bad things happen to what makes the baby. The DNA, or I guess you could call it the basic recipe that says what we look like and can do gets mistakes in it. Trying to stay _pure_ without enough different recipe types is like when you change part of a potion and don't know what the ingredients do. Sometimes its an explosion, like with adding the quill to early to the boil cure potion, and sometimes its pretty much okay like when you accidentally add a little too much or to little to say a pepper up potion. If you mix the recipes that are closely related together too many times then the recipes forget parts that make up the base of the potion. There are too many ingredients in the recipe that make us human and the base needs to remain mostly the same or bad things happen. An example is probably Squibs and Muggleborns, actually."

"Elaborate," Voldemort ordered. "More clearly this time."

"Er, well the recipe gets confused when given two similar recipes. There are mistakes in everybody's recipe and if they are different enough to start with then the stuff that matches tends to be seen as important and has a better chance of being in the baby. But if both the recipes have the same mistake then whatever makes the baby can't tell if its supposed to be there or not. Sometimes its a good thing to keep that mistake but a lot of the time its not so good. When the muggles find us they will want to check our recipes, our DNA to see why we have magic and if they can make it so that anyone can have magic. They might not even see us as human at first, my relatives certainly don't..." Harry promptly shut up when he realized he had mentioned his relatives. The silence resonating from his slip up was palpable.

"A decent explanation, no doubt someone can get me the official material to read at my leisure. We will be addressing your relatives in a moment. ~No, Nagini, you may not eat Severus. It appears that young Mr. Potter may be more valuable than I thought so you may not eat him either. If you continue to behave I will allow you to chase Wormtail.~" Voldemort said before switching to Parseltongue to address his eager familiar. The cocked head then rapid nod that the serpent gave told everyone that she had eagerly agreed to whatever Voldemort had suggested.

"~May we keep the hatchling speaker? I want to raise him. He will be my hatchling as you were my hatchling,~" Nagini hissed in eagerness, earning a startled look from her red-eyed master. Voldemort studied his long time friend before glancing thoughtfully at a nervous Harry.

"~I will consider it.~" Voldemort conceded slowly before switching his attention back to a surprised yet wary Harry who had understood every serpentine word. "How do your relatives view us?"

"I... They..." Harry stammered, unsure what to say. It was at that moment that Snape chose to moan, trying to properly wake up and drawing Harry's attention.

"I will have a Healer called to attend to him if it will help you answer," Voldemort said shrewdly, wondering at just what had happened to make Harry so worried over his supposedly least favorite professor and why he was acting so strangely about his relatives. 

Harry nodded reluctantly, silently acknowledging to himself at least that they would have a better chance if Snape was properly seen too, before sticking his hands in his pockets and hunching his shoulders in obvious misery. Voldemort nodded and signaled for the Healer to be summoned. Their audience waited restlessly as the Healer tended to Snape, pouring various potions into him as well as casting healing spells. They were all eager to have more information after Harry's slip about his relatives and no one wanted to risk being sent away or crucioed because they were noisy or overly distracting.

"He should be fine now but he needs to be watched for the next 24 hours in case his concussion gets worse or otherwise develops complications, my lord," The Healer said, rising from his crouched position next to Snape. "He didn't quiet loose too much blood. I would, however, recommend that he takes at least one blood replenishment potion within the next 24 hours and another once we are certain that the concussion wont cause other problems. The internal bleeding has stopped and begun healing quite nicely. To that end I recommend bed rest for the next few days with a type 2 general healing potion every 4-8 hours after the first 24 hours to avoid conflict with the concussion. Until the first 24 hours are up try to keep him from moving as much as possible. Is there anything else you need?"

"Thank you, no. For now you should retire to one of the other rooms and have some tea. We may need you again tonight and I would rather we not have to wait for you to arrive," Voldemort said, his eyes never leaving Harry.

"Very good, my lord," He said with a slight bow before leaving Snape on the stone floor before exiting the room. He knew better than to suggest Snape's movement to an actual bed as the audience was clearly _not_ over and instead opted to inform the house elves for later.

"Now, I believe that I asked you a question about your relatives?" Voldemort asked in a soft silky tone of voice that had Harry shivering in barely suppressed reaction. Though the youth wasn't entirely sure what _type_ of reaction he was suppressing or if it was too much of a mixture of emotions.

"They don't like magic," Harry said miserably, hoping that would be enough but knowing it was unlikely.

"Go on," Voldemort instructed.

"They think we're freaks that don't deserve to live," Harry admitted as he hunched down in his shoulders and pockets as much as he could.

"Those aren't old play clothes... or rather not _your_ old play clothes..." Voldemort said, stating it more than asking as understanding dawned.

"I don't really have my own clothes, 'm not 'llowed," Harry practically mumbled with a shrug. Voldemort let that one go since he hadn't really asked a question and opted to study the young wizard in front of him. He also didn't want to think about the sudden rage he was trying to damp down at such treatment of a wizarding child being associated with the brat he had to kill.

"Where is your wand?" Voldemort asked abruptly, Harry shrugged, he really didn't know. "It appears that Dumbledore has played us as if we were his puppets. I want you all to gather as much _accurate_ information on the situation and war in general before the next meeting. You are all dismissed."

Harry turned to Snape and tried to think of how he was going to carry the man away and get them back to Hogwarts, acting like they were dismissed as well. Meanwhile everyone else quietly filed out, recognizing that it would be unwise to potentially break Voldemort's obvious good though definitely annoyed mood. They especially didn't want to upset him if that earlier flare of temper was anything to go by how fragile that mood actually was.

"And where do you think you are going, little wizard?" Voldemort asked in amusement, while he watched Harry try to figure out how to get the two of them away.

"Hogwarts?" Harry replied tentatively. Seeing the look on Voldemort's face his shoulders slumped again before he offered his next suggestion in resignation. "The dungeons?"

"No, I think that is to far away from me," Voldemort said thoughtfully, before levitating the still insensate potions master with a twitch of his wand, using the man as a tether for the youth and making it clear that Harry was to follow as he left the throne room. 

Harry followed meekly, unwilling to leave Snape to whatever Voldemort decided to do with the spy. He was also completely puzzled by the lack of attacks and general pain that usually accompanied his confrontations with the Dark Lord for all that his scar was still tingling. Deciding that it would be best _not_ to upset the powerful Dark Wizard with the only visible wand who was levitating possibly the only semi-reliable adult that hadn't outright tried to kill him in the building he followed quietly behind them. 

Voldemort didn't bother checking behind him as they walked down various corridors toward his suite of rooms. He kept his senses wide open to make sure that Harry didn't try anything stupid like attempting to escape as they traveled through the austere hallways of the manor. A quietly hissed command to the door of his suite granted them entry and assured that only Voldemort knew the password for all that he now knew that Harry could speak the correct language. Snape was gently placed on the nearby couch that graced the sitting room as the door swung shut unhindered behind the trio, sealing the two captives into the suite with their host.

Harry looked around the room warily, noting the carved marble fireplace big enough to fit a family of four or five inside of it with a roaring mini-bonfire, the dark walnut paneling, black leather furniture. Harry admired the many dark wooden bookcases that were filled to bursting lining the walls. He let out a yelp and stumbled backward as Nagini shot past him chasing a rat that was probably Wormtail or a conjured toy. Viciously, he hoped it was a toy and that Wormtail was already residing in his new home, the snake's stomach.

"Sit," Voldemort ordered from his seat near the fire, having moved there while Harry was distracted. Harry obeyed, taking the chair on the opposite side of the fire as he continued eyeing his parent's murderer warily and occasionally glanced towards the couch with its occupant. "You are safe here, for the time being. You will continue to answer my questions truthfully and to the best of your ability. I will not require the same of any questions asked by my followers aside from those regarding any orders I give and questions about your health and that of Severus. Disobey and there will be unpleasant consequences. Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes," Harry said sulkily as he slumped a bit in his chair, feeling more than a little helpless.

"I am honestly surprised that you haven't made your way to Gringotts and claimed the Potter Lordship," Voldemort commented nonchalantly as he studied the young man in front of him. "But then again you never did wear the heir ring either."

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked in obvious confusion as he sat up straight.

"You don't know," Voldemort said in obvious disbelief. Harry shook his head in a confirming, if slightly confused, no. "Idiots! What was the old fool thinking? At least tell me that you know basic wizarding etiquette?"

"Sorry, no. I didn't even know I was a wizard until I was eleven," Harry admitted, mystified at Voldemort's sudden frustration and annoyance.

"In other words you have no idea how many important powerful families that you have made mortal enemies of, nor do you have any idea what is expected of you as the head of the Potter family," Voldemort said tightly with a scowl. "No wonder you ignored my attempts at a truce."

"What attempts? I never received anything. I would have jumped on a chance to get you to stop trying to kill me," Harry asked, even more confused.

"Potter, shut up," Snape rasped from his place on the couch, finally coming to enough to realize who else was in the room with them.

"You are concussed, which is the only reason I won't curse you for interrupting our discussion," Voldemort said in a clipped tone of obvious annoyance. "Now, kindly be silent or I will curse you any way. You will be answering enough questions of your own once you are properly healed enough to be coherent."

Snape fell silent in confusion, the blow to his head jumbling his thoughts and memories together into a barely coherent mess. The only thing he knew was that he was supposed to keep the other two apart and protect the younger wizard from the older as much as possible. To that end he dragged his barely responding body upright and lurched toward them, only just catching himself on the fireplace as he laboriously placed himself between the two. Breathing hard he turned his back to Harry and used himself as a shield.

"Well, well, well, this is an interesting development," Voldemort murmured as he leaned forwards in interest as Harry watched in shock. The green streak of Nagini still chasing something headed in their direction caused Snape, with his rattled mind, to startle and completely cover Harry as if to protect him from a killing curse in mid-flight. "Yes, very interesting. ~Nagini, either eat Wormtail or chase him from our rooms. I will take you outside later for a proper hunt but for now I need you to slow your movements.~"

"~Yes, Tom. Thank you!~" Nagini hissed before increasing her speed just enough to swallow the animagus whole. Moving much slower this time she slithered over to her master and coiled herself around him and his chair just as Harry managed to move Snape slightly off of him.

"Could you.. ugh, cast a feather light charm on him or something?" Harry asked with a grunt as Snape gave a low moan of pain before slumping to the floor at his student's feet, once more semi-conscious, promoting the worried suggestion. "Maybe we should put him back on the couch?"

"Very well. Be warned that unless you both can convince me that you have more value alive than dead you will not survive and Severus will die a traitor's death," Voldemort said in warning as he returned Snape to the leather couch. Harry blanched, knowing from his dreams and visions exactly what all that entailed, as he nodded his understanding. Taking a deep breath to gather his courage Harry decided he might as well ask his own questions before they were killed since he couldn't think of anything that they had which would convince Voldemort to keep them alive.

"Alright, I need more information before I can offer anything since I am pretty clueless about everything," Harry warned, earning a nod of understanding and agreement from Voldemort which allowed him to relax enough to continue in a rush of questions. "What did you mean about a Potter Lordship? Why do you all keep trying to kill me? Why is everyone fighting? Are you really planning to kill all of the muggles and muggleborns? Why did I survive whenever you tried to kill me? What was that memory thing you left in the diary that I had to kill? Why isn't everyone treated fairly? What..."

"What do you mean about killing my diary?" Voldemort interrupted the flood as soon as he registered the question about the little book in shock.

"Um... It sort of set the basilisk loose in the school during my second year. I had to go down into the chamber of secrets to save Ginny and stop the attacks. The basilisk bit me when I killed it and Fawkes cried on the bite before I stabbed the diary with the basilisk fang that had stuck in my arm. I think Mr. Malfoy still has what's left of the diary but I'm not sure since I tricked him into freeing Dobby with it and he was the last one I saw holding it," Harry offered hesitantly. The incredulous look of shock on Voldemort's face was priceless.

"Perhaps I should have you summarize all of your time at Hogwarts and explain exactly why you aren't in Slytherin. I attacked you in first year, and apparently in second year. Then there was fourth year and the tournament, along with whatever you dealt with during third year and whatever trials that this year has presented to you. Its a wonder you aren't dead," Voldemort commented speculatively. Harry huffed in general frustration and couldn't keep the blush of embarrassment from creeping into his cheeks. "It is clear we will need considerably more time than we have this evening so I will provide you with parchment and quill, with which you will truthfully and completely summarize your life. You will also provide a written list of all the questions you feel need to be answered to make an informed decision as to what to offer for your lives. I will, however, promise that the two of you will live out the week whatever else is decided unless there is some emergency which requires either of your deaths, as unlikely as that is. Beyond that I will promise you nothing until the situation is more clear to avoid later problems on both our parts. Do you find this agreeable?"

"Yeah, but if you decide you have to kill me could you let Snape go? He's the only one who's ever treated me normally. I only agree with Ron about him being a git because I don't want to fight with one of my first friends," Harry requested almost plaintively.

"I will consider it," Voldemort conceded before standing and transfiguring his chair into a bed for the youth and summoned blankets for both of his guests, handing them to Harry. "Go to sleep. We will explore the situation further in the morning."

Harry nodded tiredly, spreading one of the blankets over his professor on the couch before climbing into the transfigured bed, which was much softer than either of the ones he had at the Dursleys, and quickly fell asleep. Harry completely forgot about his normal silencing spell, with how exhausted he was and without a wand to cast it with, it didn't seem to matter as much. Voldemort marveled at how fast Harry dropped into the arms of Morpheus and wondered just what the boy had to deal with that he was comfortable enough in the presence of a mortal enemy to fall asleep so quickly. Adding this new piece of the puzzle to his mental file he moved into his bedroom and went to his own rest until his alarm woke him to check the concussed potions master.


	2. Nightmares and Motherly Serpents

Voldemort never needed the alarm because Harry's nightmares woke them both shortly before it was due to go off. Groggily, glamours down and revealing his twenty-ish human features looking like a near copy of his diary self with ruby eyes, Voldemort stumbled into his sitting room. The first thing he saw was Harry thrashing about, tangled tightly in the blanket, screaming his head off in pain and terror. The two older wizards exchanged an astonished look, with Snape being obviously clear eyed as his magic boosted the healing of the concussion, practically draining his core in the process. Another shriek from Harry sent both stumbling to his side to try and wake him.

"Potter! Wake up!" Snape ordered sharply as they both held Harry still so that he didn't either hurt himself or toss himself from the bed. Harry reacted by shrinking back from the loud voice and dropping further into his nightmare. They were finally able to make out his panicked words as his volume automatically dropped in response to an apparently angry male voice.

"No, please! I'm sorry Uncle!" Harry practically whimpered before flinching violently and repeatedly as if struck. It was very clear to both wizards that Harry had no idea they were even there. Snape swore softly as he lost his grip on the arms of the suddenly rolled up, crying boy.

"Dump a glass of water over him?" Voldemort suggested, thinking of ways to wake Harry that might not send him deeper into whatever nightmare he was trapped in.

"No, we have no idea if whoever did this didn't use that against him at some point. It could make him worse for all we know. We'll have to stick with simply holding him and trying to talk him out of the nightmare," Snape said with a shake of his head and a wince at the renewed headache as he pulled Harry from the bed, blanket and all, into his lap, purposefully ignoring the more human look that Voldemort was currently sporting.

Nagini slithered closer and started producing a hissing croon that she used to use whenever Voldemort had a nightmare, even as she nudged her human closer. Her attempt to get him to cuddle Harry didn't work as well as she had hoped but he did concede to sitting down next to Snape on the floor as the serpent circled them protectively.

"~You aren't going to let me kill him, are you?~" Voldemort asked in a hissy grumble with a resigned look on his face.

"~The hatchling is powerful and will be our hatchling. Maybe he will be strong enough to be your mate but first the hatchling must grow and as our hatchling he is not a threat to our territory or nest. He will help protect it once he understands that it is also his nest. The dark one already helps protect the nest and need only be reminded to keep protecting,~" Nagini explained making Voldemort choke at the word _mate_ before she returned to crooning.

"My lord?" Snape asked cautiously, his memories still confused enough from the partly healed concussion not to realize he had given himself away. He completely ignored the fact that he was suddenly short of breath and the way various areas of his torso just plain _hurt_.

"Nagini has decided that we will be raising him and that if he does well enough I need to marry him," Voldemort admitted half disgusted and half amused. "We will be having a small discussion about your true loyalties later today. Your reactions to the concussion and various stimuli were rather _interesting_."

Snape paled in sudden worry but nodded his agreement as he started gently rocking back and forth in a soothing fashion he had once seen Lily use on a fussy baby Harry. He might have had to be under a glamour to visit her but he would always love his adopted sister and protect her son. With a deep sigh he contemplated how he was going to get Lily's son to let him stay near now that he could no longer spy, even as he brushed back Harry's hair in a further attempt to sooth him. Harry gave off another whimper or two before settling back into a deep and thankfully peaceful sleep. Neither of the wizards had noticed that Harry had a death grip on their robes earning peals of hissy laughter from Nagini as they tried to return the teen to the bed and found themselves stuck together.

"~Shut it! This is not funny!~" Voldemort hissed back in irritation which only made the serpent laugh harder, sending a ripple of convulsions along her entire length as she continued to laugh. It looked like they were surrounded by a green circular wave or ribbon rather than a ferocious snake. She even accidentally, on purpose, knocked them all onto the bed in a sprawling heap that had Harry half awake from the jolt of landing on top of the other two before settling back into slumber. 

"Well, at least you're back in bed. Neither the brat nor the healer were exactly pleased with how injured you were. I was planning on giving you your potions in the morning since he said one within 24 hours and to watch you for complications to the concussions. The Healer said the general healing potions shouldn't be administered until after 24 hours and assigned bed rest for the next couple of days," Voldemort said conversationally as they waited for Nagini to quit moving long enough that they might be able to return to their own sleeping places. "I'm making him write up all of his little experiences and adventures at Hogwarts in the morning, including a summary of the rest of his life. He is to write it up truthfully or suffer my displeasure. If he adheres to our agreement, barring unforeseen circumstances, I have promised you both relative safety in my care for a minimum of a week. After that..."

"I see..." Severus said cautiously as he tried to figure a way out of this mess for the two of them.

"I don't really think that you do but its enough of an explanation for the night. ~Nagini? Are you going to let us go to our own beds anytime soon or are you going to keep us trapped here until morning?~" Voldemort asked his familiar in a tone of mild exasperation.

"~You will spend time with them and see if they are worthy mates,~" Nagini declared with a hissy cackle before settling down to sleep, keeping them all on the transfigured bed.

"Stubborn snake! She wont let us go to our own beds," Voldemort said in exasperation, refusing to let the intimation that he might have found two worthy spouses bother him as Harry murmured in his sleep before shifting to cuddle with both men.

"That might not be entirely horrible," Snape admitted grudgingly, in truth he found Harry's cuddling unbearably adorable.


	3. Breakfast and Questions

They slept the rest of the night together on the transfigured bed guarded by a very large, very poisonous snake as Voldemort periodically checked on Snape. Thankfully Snape's concussion and other injuries didn't need further treatment by the healer, despite the events of the night, and by breakfast time he could safely take the recommended potions. When they roused Harry to eat something the younger male muttered and sleepily made his way over to the transfigured table laden with various food stuffs. Voldemort wasn't about to let them out of his very secure parseltongue passworded rooms until he had gotten to the bottom of all of this. He wasn't exactly pleased when he noticed Harry waited for the other two to serve themselves and begin eating before serving himself little more than half a plate full of food.

"What's wrong with you? You barely took anything to eat," Voldemort asked bluntly. "And don't give me the excuse that its because I have you, teenagers are notorious bottomless pits when it comes to food."

"N..nothing, I'm just not all that hungry is all," Harry stammered suddenly fully awake, flinching at the sharp tone.

"~What's wrong?~" Nagini hissed curiously from near Voldemort's feet.

"~He didn't take enough food and I was wondering if he was ill,~" Voldemort answered absently as he studied the suddenly blushing youth in front of him. Nagini contemplated that for a moment before climbing up the back of her human's chair and examining how much they had each taken.

"~Hatchlings should get more than that, or at least human hatchlings should. Tom, why did you give the hatchling less than what those terrible humans at the place for hatchling with no caregivers gave you?~" Nagini asked with a frown-like hiss.

"~I didn't serve him, he is free to take as much from the serving foods as he pleases. In fact it is how little he took that worries me,~" Voldemort hissed softly as Harry shrunk into his seat under his scrutinizing gaze. Snape watched the exchange warily, unable to understand half the conversation and wondering if he shouldn't take Harry and try to get them out of there, or at least place himself between Harry and the other two in the room. "Oh, don't be so worried Severus. We're just commenting on how little he's taken to eat and wondering if he's sick."

"I'm fine... just not all that hungry, thanks," Harry said more than a little annoyance in his voice, straightening in his chair as he purposefully took a large bite of his scrambled eggs to throw them off, none of them were fooled. 

Eating what was on his plate Harry noticed that both older wizards were still observing him by the time he was finished for all that they had gotten sneaky about it. To try and alleviate their obvious suspicions he took a second serving that was slightly larger than his first and forced himself to eat all of it. His stomach protested being forced to hold more than its current size and had Harry resisting the urge to throw up.

"Foolish boy," Snape growled before shoving a stomach soother into Harry's hands and reluctantly handing over the rest of his emergency potions kit to their now glaring host.

"I am suddenly tempted not to allow you any brewing time," Voldemort said archly. Snape said nothing as he stared down at his plate, quickly finishing his meal. summoning a quill and some parchment the Dark Lord handed it over to Harry as the table magically cleared its self of everything but their respective drinks. "Write." Voldemort commanded before practically dragging Snape into his bedroom with the pile of confiscated potions, shutting the door firmly and leaving Harry alone with Nagini. Harry glumly started to write out his life's story with as much important detail as he could remember, unwilling to break the temporary truce that he had apparently agreed to. In the bedroom, Voldemort directed the dour potions master to sit on the bed before holding up a small vial of Veritaserum with a questioning look, silently asking if he needed to use it.

"I will answer your questions truthfully if you answer mine," Snape bargained, unwilling to pass up the chance that his former master was offering, no matter how much he didn't want to answer questions.

"I reserve the right to use it in any case if I feel you are not answering truthfully," Voldemort countered, knowing that as the captor he had all of the power but still wanting to believe he could trust Snape to some extent.

"As long as you understand I can only answer truthfully without it what I consciously acknowledge or is not bound by magic. I would also ask that if you do resort to using it that you not only calm down before deciding on any punishment but that you will not hold Potter responsible for anything I tell you," Snape requested, trying not to show his shock at their good fortune.

"Agreed but all bets are off if you willfully lie to me," Voldemort warned, Snape nodded his understanding, as well as acknowledging the likelihood of both Legillimancy and potion being used for confirmation while he waited for the first question. "Why did you betray me?"

"You didn't keep your promise to spare Lily, she was like a sister to me," Snape said bluntly before elaborating further on the situation. "Dumbledore used the situation to trap me into his service and forced me to swear a binding oath to protect the young man in your sitting room. This evolved into constantly using Lily's memory and her son to force me into doing various jobs for him. I managed to avoid most of the other binding oaths that others have needed to swear. I am under legal magical contract to teach at Hogwarts which is buttressed by a second one saying I will spy for him upon your return. The only unbreakable vow I am bound by is the one protecting Potter in memory of his mother. Dumbledore has threatened me with Azkaban on more than one occasion and has a marked unhealthy interest in young Mr. Potter, this includes purposefully keeping him in the dark as much as possible. I suspect he also may have attempted to tamper with the Potter holdings and possibly has tampered with their wills."

"I see..." Voldemort said thoughtfully. "Barring the effects of the various magical contracts and vows you suffer from where does your allegiance truly lie? And where does it lie in all practicality?"

"Barring contracts, vows, and oaths, my allegiance is to the Dark minus some of the more extremist views. Practically speaking, I have successfully allied it with Potter alone, forcing it away from Dumbledore and the Light as a whole," Snape answered honestly. "Had I been removed from the position of spy by either side before this I am uncertain if I would have managed to convince the magic that I was not breaking my word, willfully or otherwise. This is especially a concern since one of the primary reasons Dumbledore threatened me with Azkaban was if I expressed too much concern for Potter's safety or attempted to investigate to keep his fool neck alive. I cannot fulfill my end of the vow from Azkaban and my being placed there might actually put him in danger, thus I obeyed."

"So, he was using Potter as a hostage as well as your own life," Voldemort said contemplatively. Snape said nothing, watching the Dark Lord warily from his seat on the bed. "I will still have to punish you but the old man skillfully trapped you in such a way that I doubt anyone could truly fault you. When asked you will truthfully tell the others that you were fulfilling your duties to me when Bella caught you and Potter. Beyond that you will say nothing and we will see how the situation develops. That said the first part of your punishment will be to write _I will not fall for the tricks of twinkly old Headmasters nor fail to inform my sworn Lord about important events in a timely manner_ until I tell you to stop. I will be working on paperwork in the same room while Potter writes out his little autobiography. The rest of your questioning and punishment will be served later."

"Thank you," Severus breathed in relief.

"Oh, don't thank me," Voldemort said with a nasty smirk. "I still haven't quiet decided what to do with the two of you but neither of you will be leaving my care for a very very long time."

"Yes, my lord," Severus said as he bowed his head slightly, hiding his relieved expression behind a curtain of dark hair.

"Come, you can work on your lines while Potter finishes his story and I work on paperwork," Voldemort instructed. Snape nodded and they returned to the other room only for Harry to hand over his first completed parchment.

"That was suspiciously quick," Voldemort said softly only for Harry to look away and keep working on the second parchment. Sending a thoughtful look towards the green-eyed imp he settled down at his desk to read the first part of Harry's life story. He barely got a paragraph in before sighing and setting it aside to look at Harry thoughtfully. "Potter, this starts when you met Quirrell in the Leaky Cauldron. Did you perhaps forget to annotate the previous eleven years of your life?"

"No," Harry admitted with a light flush staining his cheeks. "I just figured you wouldn't care about anything to do with muggles, besides you just said what happened at Hogwarts."

"Earlier, during the meeting, you mentioned that your relatives don't like magic. I'd like you to clarify that and how you were treated, especially compared to your cousin and, if possible, compared to the other children growing up," Voldemort instructed. 

Harry nodded his understanding as the other man turned back to the parchment summarizing Harry's first year at Hogwarts. He was impressed by the amateur sleuthing and furious at the risks that were taken, not only by Harry and his friends but also by Dumbledore with the lives of everyone in the castle. Voldemort had never really sat down and thought about what could have gone wrong when he was still a wraith and more than half out of his mind from loneliness.

Picking up the next two parchments that had quietly been set next to him on the desk he read through them. He barely kept his temper at the events of second year, causing Harry to quietly hiss in pain and clutch at his scar in response to Voldemort's fury more than once. A shaky hand finished out fourth year, what little of fifth year had passed, and the brief essay on his home life before handing them over. 

Voldemort remembered to Occlude before reading the rest causing Harry to sigh in relief, which briefly changed to a half choked scream when they slipped in his anger over Harry's home life and the use of a blood quill on students. Ruthlessly suppressing his emotions Voldemort slammed his shields back into place before nodding at an obviously worried Snape his permission to check on the Gryffindor. Snape immediately dropped his, by now, half mangled quill and forced himself tiredly around the table to check Harry before finding nothing wrong.

After bringing his furious breathing and emotions under better control Voldemort left his desk to examine the slightly swollen lightning bolt scar and cast a few diagnostics at the smaller wizard. The results brought a frown to his features and prompted him to actually touch the scar just like he had less than six months before in the graveyard. The reaction he got from his own magic and from Harry had him mentally calling himself seven kinds of fool as he stared down at the now exhausted teen in utter shock.

"So that's how you can understand Parseltongue," Voldemort muttered in a combination of fascination, shock, and sudden understanding.

"Wha?" Harry asked groggily, still forcing the pain back under control.

"~Our hatchling!~" Nagini cackled with glee as much as a serpent could.

"~Yes, he does belong to us. I'm sorry I didn't see it sooner.~" Voldemort apologized to his still gleeful familiar. "~Now that we know what the results were we can probably stop his scar from hurting.~"

"What do you mean?" Harry asked warily, his scar still swollen and smarting.

"All you need to know is that I left something very precious behind the night your parents died and if I had known you were keeping it safe for me you would never have needed to fear me," Voldemort said quietly. "This also means that not only will I not kill you, you are never leaving."

"And if I say no?" Harry asked cautiously, almost suspiciously, earning a dark chuckle from his long time enemy.

"Oh you don't have a choice in the matter, little lion. You can live a relatively normal life, should you choose to, once I have assembled sufficient protection for you. Depending upon your own behavior and actions I will allow you more freedoms but I reserve the right to forbid anything I feel may be a danger to you," Voldemort told him almost smugly.

"But, why? No one ever really cares if I get hurt or do something dangerous," Harry asked in innocent puzzlement, shocking both older men.

"I see why you had so much trouble keeping him alive," Voldemort observed only to receive an absent-minded miserable nod of agreement from Snape.

"It would certainly explain why he wanders off battling basilisks and into other dangerous situations," Snape said half thoughtfully, half in regretful disbelief.

"~Hatchling is old enough to mate.~" Nagini pointed out thoughtfully, making Harry choke in shock. "~Take him and the sneaky spy to your nest. As mates they can not harm you and you will get your own hatchlings from them. They are strong to avoid being eaten by you for so long. Good for mates, even if one is to small and you will need to feed him better.~"

"~Its tempting.~" Voldemort admitted quietly, looking them both up and down while Harry gave him a scandalized look and Snape looked at him oddly unable to understand the obvious conversation. "~The problem is that if they don't want to be my mates I'm not sure I could keep them and I need to keep them for other reasons.~"

"~Then make them want to stay and be your mates.~" Nagini said with a hiss of annoyance before haughtily leaving the room, muttering about stubborn humans.


	4. Claimed

"No," Harry said flatly, trying to head the situation off at the pass.

Voldemort just smirked and decided to taste his lips, kissing him so thoroughly that Harry practically swooned. Snape just looked politely away, half embarrassed and half lustful. After seeing that he rather hoped that keeping them as bed-mates would be the Dark Lord's final solution to the problem. It would keep Lucius away from him, Greyback away from Harry, and both of them would be well protected.

"Your answers earlier were satisfactory as such your punishment will be much lighter," Voldemort repeated for the blissed out Harry's benefit. "If I take Nagini's suggestion you will both belong to me even more than you already do. I will have the ultimate authority in all things and you will only ever sleep with me or each other, anyone else will die."

"How is that any different from now? Aside from the sex," Harry asked, slightly disgruntled as the high from being snogged so thoroughly faded while still firmly trapped in Voldemort's solid grip.

"I will have justification to give you more protection with lighter punishments for disobedience. You will also be able to build a family because I will require you each to give me at least one Heir. I will, however, be delighted to have any children either of you may carry for me and will blood adopt any that the two of you have together. I will also die before seeing them harmed," Voldemort told them, the last part said in nearly a whisper though with no less passion.

"I... really?" Harry asked, at a loss of words the obvious care that any children would receive flooring him.

Harry's almost innocent response gave Voldemort an idea and with a smirk he reached up to press Harry's scar before pouring his magic into it. The startled half strangled gasp had Snape looking at them quickly only to be stopped short by the blissed out expression on Harry's face. Smirking wider the Dark Lord poured even more power into his Horcrux, dismantling the protections that Lily had left behind which kept hurting Harry and merging the shard fully with Harry's soul. By the time he was done Harry had cum in his pants twice and Snape was flushed a bright red as he shifted uncomfortably in his own seat.

"You are already mine, I just want to limit how hard you fight me," Voldemort told them both smugly. Harry gave a half mangled moan of incoherent agreement, still blissed out and slightly pained by the quick double orgasm.

"I believe that was agreement my lord," Snape said in embarrassment. Voldemort smirked and decided he didn't want to wait to claim his prizes, the last time he waited he had nearly lost Severus to Lucius' idiocy after all.

"Bedroom," Voldemort ordered, half carrying Harry while Snape followed, still blushing like a tomato. Magically stripping both of them, cleaning them in the process and earning a squawk from Snape, he got them both on the bed. "I should have claimed you that day I found you cornered by Lucius but then I wouldn't have the imp and might have lost you to that thrice damned vow. Now I have you both and you shall not escape me."

The dumbfounded looks Voldemort received in return for his very possessive claim of ownership made his smirk grow wide as he reluctantly admitted to himself that Nagini had a point, they would make wonderful mates. He absently warded his rooms and summoned his toy box glancing over both of his prizes laid out on the bed before deciding what would be used for their first time together.

"Should I make sure you can't run away or perhaps reduce you both to a whimpering mess first?" Voldemort mused thoughtfully, half hoping that he could use the situation to punish them for defying him so often in a safe and satisfying fashion. He never anticipated the joint flinch that stopped him dead when they both saw what was in his toy box. "Which piece or pieces caused you both to flinch?"

"Why?" Harry asked warily, eyeing the toy box with a good amount of fear.

"So that I know not to use them," Voldemort said with some surprise. "If you're that scared of whatever it is then you will have to trust me implicitly before I can use whatever it is that you're obviously terrified of safely. I can be very cruel but since I plan to keep you both I have no interest in hurting either of you unnecessarily. It wouldn't do any of us any good for you to be terrified, I don't get off on cowering fear and both of you will be carrying my children to term. The fear might harm the babies and neither of you would let me close enough to check that you and the children were alright."

"The belt," Severus admitted after a moment's hesitation.

"Belt? There's no... ah, the leather harness. Well, we wont be using that right away in any case. Its more to help keep whoever wears it still so I can play in case they have problems with having rope against their skin. Harry? What bothered you?" Voldemort asked, removing the harness and anything else that could be mistaken for a leather belt. He made sure to angle the box so that they both had a better look at what was inside and tell him what to remove.

"The belt and I thought I saw a knife," Harry contributed with a fearful shiver of his own. Voldemort looked down into the box and found, with some surprise, that a shiny vaugely knife shaped object was indeed in the box. Pulling the object out he gave a snort of laughter at the slightly odd shaped vibrator before magically banishing it and the various belt-like leather toys to a box he kept specifically for when something needed to be resorted.

"Anything else?" Voldemort asked. When they both shook their heads no in answer he grinned evilly and summoned his special stash of lube before joining them on the bed with toy box in hand. He absently warded the bed so they wouldn't fall off of it by accident before deciding more kisses were the way to start.

Voldemort spent a good twenty minutes alternately snogging them senseless. He _really_ wanted to tie them down so that he could play with them, turning them into begging and babbling piles of mush before fucking them both soundly. Now that he had finally allowed himself to think of bedding them and made progress in that direction the urge to properly claim them was nearly unbearable. For the moment he settled for making them incoherent and breathless as they got used to him and the pleasure he was giving them, quickly moving from only kisses to exploring their bodies.

"Please my lord!" Severus was the first one to succumb to the pleasurable torture, not having cum earlier like Harry had, though the imp wasn't far from begging himself.

Voldemort rumbled a pleased chuckle as he enjoyed his discovery they were both highly sensitive to his touch. Harry's low whine of want as he fought his own need to beg earned him a gentle caress that had him instinctively curling against the ruby-eyed man now pleasurably tormenting both of them. A firm grip on Severus' cock combined with an all consuming kiss had the man dizzy with lust. Harry on the other hand found himself rubbing up against both of them trapped between them as the kiss deepened, warming his insides and making him want more contact and gentle caresses.

"Not just yet," Voldemort scolded, holding off Severus' orgasm until he was satisfied that the onyx-eyed man wouldn't cum until he wanted him to. "By the time I am done with you my treasures, you will both be to exhausted to move."

"Guh," Harry said, eyes rolling up into his head as he accidentally pressed his weeping prick against Severus' leg, trapping it between them. He never heard the soft chanting that Voldemort said over both of them and Severus was at the point that he didn't care.

Magic started to coalesce in a swirling cloud around the trio as Voldemort exerted his will. Using their current condition as a basis he requested that the magic make appropriate gifts for his companions, going so far as to outright admit to the magic that he planned for them to carry his heirs. The magic surged leaving behind two intricate silver and leather collars with matching leashes and a trio of rings. He automatically reached for the rings as he continued the chant but the moment he touched them a ring box formed around them, signaling they were not ready to be used if ever. The collars on the other hand felt warm in his grip, thrumming with the quiet chant and magic used to create them. A quick examination told him which would go to which wizard. He willed them into place, physically placing them near each neck of the two younger wizards. Just as he was finishing the chant the collars melted only to reform around each pale neck before flattening and fading into intricate collar-like tattoos.

"Wha?" Harry mumbled, high on the now fading magic.

"Mine," Voldemort rasped out, once more snogging them senseless as he swiftly prepared both of them for the fucking of their lives. 

Harry was slightly more coherent than Severus so he was prepared first, allowing the older wizard a chance to rest. Voldemort, extremely impatient by this point used a spell to prepare him before sliding carefully inside. He enjoyed the little gasps and keening sounds that dropped from Harry's lips like rain, though the warmth and tightness made him simply want to slam home, roughly taking his pleasure from the green-eyed imp. The Dark Lord groaned until Harry's wordless pleas slackened enough that he knew moving wouldn't harm the smaller male. Slowly drawing back he quickly slammed home managing to hit the imp's prostate head on before setting a fast if not quite brutal pace as he claimed his green-eyed virgin. Harry shuddered through a dry orgasm just before Voldemort filled him with his seed.

Severus moaned at the spectacle, feeling the preparation spell take hold and knowing he was next. He deeply suspected that their new master, owner? had experienced certain enhancements via ritual or enchantment. He also hadn't missed the significance of the collars for all that they had become tattoos. Severus lost his train of thought as Voldemort decided to snog him again. Entering the potions master a bit faster than Harry and drawing a delightful gasp of shock Voldemort grinned ferally before proceeding to pound him into the mattress, coming deep inside and filling him to the brim.

Now that they were open and dripping his first load of cum both of them were quickly fucked repeatedly and vigorously as Voldemort put his hard won magically enhanced stamina to good use. He finally relented, sealing his cum inside them with butt plugs before magically cleaning them all and changing the bedding. They all cuddled up together with Voldemort in the middle holding them close and exhaustedly fell into the land of dreams.


	5. Lucius' Visit

When he woke the next morning it took a moment for Voldemort to remember what had happened for him to have two other bodies next to him in bed. Deciding that breakfast could wait he basked in the knowledge that not only had they negated the prophecy he also now knew the full value of the two wizards in his bed. A bed they would never leave if he had anything to say about it. Oh he knew that demanding they each bear him a child was a good way to keep them near, he also knew that magic had agreed he could keep them. The rings that had materialized during his chant the night before were more than proof of that for all that as bonding rings they also carried the implied warning that he would need to make the two of them happy. None of them were comfortable enough yet to immediately fulfill the implied marriage contract that came with the rings and the box containing them wouldn't open until all three of them were ready. Publicly both Harry and Severus would be his slaves, pets, and bed-mates, privately he would do his utmost to protect and care for them maybe even manage to love them.

Severus groaned as he woke to the all consuming warmth and pleasant soreness that tended to accompany a willing partner who talked him into bottoming that might actually care. Before he could even open his eyes his mouth was being devoured by a ferocious kiss that immediately had him hard and whimpering. Voldemort felt Harry twitch on his other side before once more going still as he snogged Severus senseless only for the imp to yelp as he was dragged on top of the pair and quickly included in the kiss.

"Oh yes, I am never letting either of you go," Voldemort said in a delighted rumble as he tried to decide if they were even leaving the bed that day. He idly sucked on a whimpering Harry's neck as he mentally ran through what he wanted to do to the pair and what had to be done otherwise. By the time he was done with his mental inventory Harry was a barely twitching pile of goo laying across his lap as he leaned back against Severus like a human backrest or body pillow. The red mark of the hickey half overlapped the brand new magical collar tattoo as Harry's random twitching at the pleasurable torture had his cock taking an interest.

"My lord, I am unfamiliar with the binding you used on us..." Severus began hesitantly.

"Because it was designed before the time of the founders to be used on captive brides and is easily adapted to simple requests of the magic. I used the more traditional variation and depending upon several factors you will simply remain my pets or we will eventually bond," Voldemort explained absently, wandlessly securing Severus' wrists above his head to the actual headboard of the bed.

"Lord?" Severus asked tensely, doing his best not to fight the sudden appearance of the restraints.

Voldemort ignored the implied question, knowing he wasn't going to hurt the man, in favor of pulling the butt plug out of a limp Harry. He quickly stroked Severus to hardness before dropping the green-eyed imp straight onto Severus' cock. Harry yelped in surprise at the sudden intrusion as he was immediately wide awake. Severus groaned at the sensation of suddenly being sheathed inside the hot young body.

Smiling wickedly Voldemort took advantage of their briefly overwhelmed senses to remove the butt plug inside Severus and sheath himself inside the potions master with a deep guttural moan of pleasure. Pulling Harry back against his chest he returned to sucking on the smaller male's neck, keeping him upright as he enjoyed the whimpers being produced by both of his pets/probable future husbands from the renewed sensation. He proceeded to switch between pounding into Severus and dropping Harry on Severus' rock hard cock, enjoying tormenting them both before finally allowing them to cum and quickly joining them in release.

"Yes, I think we will stay in bed today or at least in my quarters where I can ravish you whenever I like," Voldemort said wickedly as he pulled them each free only to quickly replace the butt plug inside his two pets. Not bothering to release Severus from the head board he used magic to clean them and the sheets already planning on a joint shower or bath later in the day. Harry cuddled up against Severus in a post orgasmic haze just as the magical restraints released him while Voldemort ordered them some breakfast.

The day turned out to be surreal for Harry and Severus alike. First Voldemort made them eat a healthy breakfast then he set them to summarizing both sides of the war, insisting on an honest account while he worked on paperwork nearby. Around lunch time Lucius Malfoy delivered a new stack of paperwork only to stop dead when he realized who was working in the same room as his master.

"Yes Lucius?" Voldemort asked the blond with a raised eyebrow.

"I thought that at least Potter would be in the dungeons," Lucius said, obviously thrown off balance by their very presence.

"Certain additional information came to light last night after the meeting which shows that neither of them are to blame for their previous actions. It also proved beneficial in that both have agreed to remain at my side. I decided that as the last of each of our lines we might as well use this opportunity to produce heirs, they agreed," Voldemort informed him, enjoying the blush that both of his companions were now sporting. "Essentially, Dumbledore played Potter and Severus was the victim of his own success complicated by Dumbledore's fondness for control."

"I... see," Lucius said carefully, mentally cursing that he wouldn't be able to have Severus tied to his bed and couldn't get revenge on the Potter brat for his humiliation after the chamber of secrets fiasco. An amiable nod and Lucius was dismissed.

"Oh and Lucius? If anything happens to them I will no longer have a reason not to punish you over loosing my diary," Voldemort said airily as the man walked out the door, chill running down his back and door closing behind him.

"Why did you do that? He's already tried to kill me once, it will only make him try again," Harry said peevishly.

"It will make him work hard to keep you both safe since if either of you get hurt he will be punished regardless whether it was his fault or not. This method isn't fool proof but it does reduce how likely he or his brat of a son are to try and hurt either of you. Besides, I want him to understand that I am the only one allowed to touch either of you," Voldemort said mildly, turning back to his paperwork.

"For which we are grateful," Severus said quickly. "We certainly don't want to find ourselves the playthings of anyone and you've already proven that you will respect our limits."

"I might push them a bit but yes, I will respect most of your limits," Voldemort agreed amiably as Harry finally understood the implications and blanched before quickly nodding his own fervent agreement. "The collars should make it clear that you are claimed but to make doubly sure you will both sit at my feet during public appearances, which includes meetings. Severus you have permission to shield the imp during matters of discipline or combat and neither of you are required to stay for prisoner interrogation. Both of you will be allowed your wands for general use but if you interfere you need to have a very good reason because if you don't I will have to publicly punish you. In some cases I will shift the collars from tattoo form to solid form and/or treat you like true pets, this is primarily for show so please don't fight it."

"I must protect him if he is threatened," Severus reminded the other man.

"Which is one reason why I want the two of you to stay together as much as possible, especially outside these rooms, and when I treat you as pets you will be treated as a matched set. I don't want either of you to loose your fire nor be perfect little slaves, the two of you are neither. In public try to keep any back talk to a minimum so that I don't have to punish you _at all_. No one is allowed to punish you or sleep with you except for me, any who attempt it will be severely punished or killed," Voldemort informed them wickedly. "As you've no doubt realized I am a possessive bastard and I have no qualms indulging that part of myself when it comes to the two of you."

"Yes, sir/lord," The two sable haired wizards muttered, both blushing in embarrassment at the leer he'd sent their way when referring to his possessiveness.

"Good," Voldemort practically purred. "Don't bother trying to remove the collars, the ritual I used will make their removal impossible unless I am the one to do so with the intent to release you."

They nodded their understanding, remembering his earlier comment about the bond and its use on captive brides, before turning back to their work. Voldemort decided to simply watch them for a while, enjoying the peace of sitting with them and no need to maintain his normal masks. Remembering something he jotted down a note and sent it off with a house elf, hoping that by the time of the next meeting he would have some abusive muggles to punish for hurting his imp. The fool who had hurt his potions master as a child was already dead and Lucius had already been warned off so he would just have to prove his ownership of both of them over time. Dumbledore's recklessness when it came to these two wizards and their well being just proved him more the fool. Oh, how he would enjoy proving to them that they were his, the children would come later and bind these two to him even more firmly.

They worked together quietly on their individual tasks. Harry's report focused more on what he knew of his schoolmates out of necessity, just as Severus' report focused on the staff and what he knew of Dumbledore's comings and goings. Voldemort was very unwilling to let them out of his sight for longer than a trip to the bathroom. Since neither of them had expected even that much when they had originally been captured there was almost no friction between the three.


	6. Dumbledore's Move

Over the next week they settled into a routine in which both of the older wizards tutored Harry and Voldemort fucked them both silly whenever he felt like it. Neither of them were allowed to sleep away from him, much to their embarrassment and Nagini's amusement. They also covered basic pet training and what was expected of each of them outside of Voldemort's rooms. Harry was mortified but seemed to accept it fairly easily. The nightmares of scorn and accusations of betrayal from his classmates, friends, Dumbledore, and the Weasleys gave lie to that false peace. This forced Severus and Voldemort to repeatedly wake him and walk him through what few choices he had at the time.

The Dark Lord never bothered to explain fully what had so sharply changed his mind, aside from Harry hearing Nagini's suggestion and later explaining it to Severus. Thus the horcrux was only ever used to overwhelm Harry with pleasure, as on the first night, leaving him a whimpering mess to be played with by both older wizards. Severus was surprised to discover that Voldemort, while naturally dominant, didn't mind sharing control in bed. Harry, on the other hand, always seemed to be on the bottom, a whimpering mess of putty in their hands as they played with him.

Finally a full week after they had been captured and made the deal with Voldemort something changed. Harry had been scowling at the essay they expected him to write for his Dark Arts tutoring they both insisted on while Severus was crossing the room with his own piece of paperwork to place on Voldemort's desk. Suddenly Severus' movement's hitched and he silently crumpled to the floor with barely a breathy whimper, agony on his face as he clutched at his chest. Hearing him hit the floor they were both by his side in an instant, Voldemort magically scanning him and Harry checking for non-magical signs of distress or injury.

Severus was able to force one word through his gritted teeth, "Dumbledore" and both of them understood, Dumbledore had somehow done something to him. Voldemort's fury enveloped all three of them as the Dark Lord instinctively wrapped them both protectively in a blanket of his magic. Harry barely had time to twitch before they were both levitated into the bedroom and placed gently on the bed.

A couple of special diagnostic spells told Voldemort what he would be fighting. The simplicity of the solution left a feral grin on his handsome features that made Harry wonder who he was planning to torture. Ignoring Harry's suddenly worried look he reached out and pressed firmly on Severus' collar tattoo just under the man's chin. Next he braced himself for the coming fight before sending a bolt of power into the tattoo and what it represented.

Immediately the tattoo shifted back to a physical collar and started glowing as Voldemort poured more and more power directly into it, making it glow with a bright silver light. Severus' horse scream had Harry frantically trying to separate them only to discover that Nagini had snuck up onto the bed and was quickly able to restrain him.

"~ _Traitor_ ,~" Harry half sobbed to the magical serpent, far more worried about Severus than himself.

"~Watch! Trust my Tom, he will make your sneaky spy well again,~" Nagini scolded, using her powerful muscles to drag him across the bed and out of her human's way while he fought with the spell hurting the potions master.

"~But!~" Harry protested, tugging on the coils holding him tight.

"~No! My Tom will not hurt one of his mates,~" Nagini scolded again. They fell into silence just as the bright light of magic faded and both older wizards slumped there boneless.

"That... was not nice," Voldemort huffed with a weak scowl.

"I would have preferred a week long hangover," Severus grunted in agreement.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked worriedly, not quite daring to try breaking free of Nagini again.

"For the moment..." Voldemort said with a large yawn.

"You're going to have to do that to Harry aren't you?" Severus asked in dread, tired beyond belief and showing it in his voice.

"Yes," Voldemort conceded. "I used a function of the collars, as captive brides you are unable to fulfill previous responsibilities. There had to be a way to break any magical binding aside from the one the collars represent, its built into them. This keeps you by my side and allows me to stop someone whisking either of you away by any means. If you are successfully snatched from me a compulsion to return by any means kicks in that would eventually kill you if I hadn't disabled the lethal aspect. I decided I'd just retrieve you by force rather than risk the binding killing you. The magic of the binding is all the more powerful since you chose to submit to me, qualifying it as a willing choice."

"Oh," Harry said, a little shell shocked but recovering.

"Don't worry, imp. It only hurts like that when I'm fighting an active enchantment. The wards or the fight between bindings would have killed our Severus if I had not used that aspect of the collars. I can examine the spells and bindings without hurting you," Voldemort explained with a deep chuckle."~Nagini you may release him. I want to cuddle with my mates before I have to try something like that again.~"

Nagini gave a hissy chuckle of her own and uncoiled from around Harry, nudging him into Voldemort's arms before leaving to make sure they would be undisturbed. They fell asleep tangled around each other, both Severus and Harry were secretly relieved that Voldemort had managed to keep them. Harry woke several hours later to the quiet breathing of his bed-mates.


	7. Line Crossed

After a few minutes of simply laying there in their arms he realized he was hungry and carefully extracted himself from the tangle of limbs. Still partly asleep he decided to walk to the kitchen for a snack, forgetting that he didn't actually know where the kitchen was and that they hadn't yet been introduced properly to the Death Eaters. He managed to leave their quarters without issue but got lost and ran into a group of new Death Eaters within twenty minutes.

"Well, well, lookie at what we have here," The leader of the small group of new recruits said mockingly, his friends quickly surrounding Harry so he couldn't escape.

"I'm just getting a snack," Harry muttered, grateful that his scar appeared to be covered by his bangs. They decided to ignore his answer and spent the next twenty minutes jeering as he was pushed around between them. Harry wasn't pleased about it but it wasn't much worse than what Dudley and his gang did to him every summer and he had been the idiot to forget his wand, despite Voldemort letting him actually keep it.

"Harry!" A panicked voice called from the far end of the hallway, attracting the attention of his tormentors.

"Well, well, your little friends to the rescue runt?" one burly member of the group sneered.

"Let him go," Voldemort ordered dangerously.

"Or what? I don't recognize you or your friend. You can't have a higher rank than us and we found the toy first," the leader sneered.

"You forgot to put up your glamours," Severus pointed out. Harry could see that the eyes of his two wizards were paying more attention to him than to his attackers, worry clear on their faces.

"The glamours shouldn't matter. I only use them to scare some of the more gullible idiots," Voldemort growled. "And you're still a member of the Inner Circle despite your punishment status."

"Inner Circle? Him? You must be joking," one of them scoffed. Harry decided enough was enough and kneed his closest couple of captors in the groin before nimbly darting through the group, snatching a wand as he went, to stand next to his two wizards.

"You'll pay for that brat!" the leader snarled in a pained voice. "I'm going to fuck you so hard you'll be screaming for help that will never come!"

"If you act like this than what use do I have for you?" Voldemort said in disgust. "At least _learn_ from your mistakes."

"Could you avoid killing them?" Harry asked carefully, not bothering to resist when Severus pulled him behind the taller man. Voldemort summoned their wands with a flick of his wrist and had them bound almost simultaneously. An angry summons and command had a house elf transporting them to the holding cells in the cellar.

"I'll just use them as examples at the meeting," Voldemort decided, quickly ushering them both back towards his quarters.

Harry shuddered at the thought of what might happen at the meeting but didn't object. He knew he'd pushed it simply asking that they be allowed to survive the mess of their own making. He wasn't expecting to be swept up and dumped on the bed before being tied to the headboard the moment they re-entered the suite. The possessive growl that came from both older wizards sent an equally unexpected shiver of delight coursing down his spine. Harry barely bit back a moan of want, knowing he was in trouble for letting himself out of the suite before being officially introduced as Voldemort's.

"Brat! You very nearly allowed someone else to touch you," Severus snarled as he stalked around the bed. He knew that Voldemort had first say, no matter how badly he wanted to fuck the insolent brat and spank him until he couldn't sit properly for a week. Mentally shuddering at what those idiots would have done to their imp, he badly wanted to reassert his claim.

"Its not like they did anything more than insult me and push me around. Dudley and his gang are worse when I can't get away from them and if I do he squeals to Uncle Vernon and I get the belt. This was nothing," Harry retorted. Their sudden complete stillness had him wondering if he hadn't said something wrong.

"I want them," Severus snarled, trembling in anger.

"They go to Bella and it will be done on the steps of Gringotts in full view of everyone with their crimes publicly listed," Voldemort shot back harshly. "Get on the bed and hold our imp. If you fuck him don't expect me to hold back when I return."

Harry felt the release of the binding spell as Voldemort stalked out of the room towards his office area. He barely managed to move his arms down to his sides before Severus was on him, pinning him to the bed and claiming his lips in a desperate kiss. Harry melted with a mewl, having absolutely no defense to such deeply felt caring that he could feel in the all consuming kiss.

"Brat, we could have lost you tonight," Severus said in a relieved scold as he cuddled the smaller wizard, not letting him move more then an inch.

"I'm sorry. I just wanted a snack and didn't want to wake you," Harry said sheepishly as Voldemort stalked back into the room, ink splatters on his hands telling them that he had sent off a note of some type.

"This is unacceptable. I was going to wait until the next meeting for a general announcement and only introduce you to the Inner Circle tonight. I'll have to do a general announcement tonight instead and you will both sit with me from now on," Voldemort grumbled, climbing into the bed and desperately cuddling with them.

They lay there for more than an hour, Harry trapped snugly between them and blissfully unaware of the plotting of his two Slytherins. For their part the two Slytherins were not only plotting but also fighting themselves not to simply pin and take the imp in their arms, reminding him to whom he belonged. Harry, reveling in the protection and comfort of their arms, slipped into sleep.

"He's adorable," Severus said with a lustful groan.

"Expect for both of you to be spending most of the night on my cock after the meeting," Voldemort warned with playful growl of his own. "You will hold him during the meeting and have permission to use restraints and a gag if you so choose. I prefer to keep his moans and whimpers to the two of us but have no objection to tormenting him a bit during the meeting. Future punishments may require one or both of you to suffer the assault of a vibrator... among other things."

"Yes my lord, thank you," Severus breathed, already feeling better knowing that he would keep the imp pinned in his lap and thus out of harms way.

Voldemort badly wanted to keep his hands on both of them but knew he would have to enforce discipline at least once during the meeting and possibly need to duel an idiot who challenged his right to lead. He felt better knowing that Severus would keep their mischievous imp close and keep them both as much out of danger as possible. That didn't mean he _liked_ the idea of sharing them or putting them at the minimal risk this entire situation required but he did recognize the necessity if his minions were to leave them alone in the future.

Abruptly Voldemort decided they needed a couch, a nice big one that they could cuddle on, continuing to do so on the bed was nice but it would limit his cuddle time and he could always use it as another place to fuck them. They would never escape him if he could help it and he would always enjoy keeping them. The sense of power he had from being able to dominate them and know that they were _his_ was intoxicating but he could get that with lording it over a powerful minion. The sense of satisfaction at possessing them was a touch more consuming but no less pleasant, again he could get that elsewhere to a slightly lesser extent. The soft warmth that coiled in his belly and chest, along with the peace from having them near though. _That_ was something that he'd only ever gotten from Nagini when she was taking care of him and the warmth had coiled only in his chest. No, he would not give this up even if it meant kidnapping his two lovers, for that is what they were, and disappearing into the depths of the earth.


	8. Public Announcement

An hour later Voldemort sighed deeply and dragged the three of them out of bed before selecting their clothes for the meeting. The special white robes he had order for just such an occasion had both heating and cooling charms so that they could wear them over whatever else they had been wearing that day and still be comfortable. They also had an ungodly amount of protection and shielding enchantments woven into the durable Acromantula silk and dragon hide mix he had designed for his own battle robes. Voldemort would use _other_ means to keep them near him and toy with them during meetings to alleviate his boredom but for now they had to get to the meeting room and present his lovers and pets to the general minion population.

Before allowing them to get dressed properly in the special robes he slipped a cock ring on each of them and made sure they remembered that his nastiness would be mostly an act. A swipe of his fingers along their necks had the collars changing back to solid form and he clipped the leashes that had come with them to the matching collar. A harsh kiss to each of them had them looking deliciously ruffled and dazed enough to forget the coming confrontation and punishment of idiots.

Nagini watched these preparations with interest, noting the loving way her Tom made sure they were ready and would be as safe as possible while in the meeting. The serpent was satisfied that they were bonding properly as mates and decided that she would curl around the two of them protectively during the meeting. She also decided that she needed to find a way for Severus to gain the serpent language so that he wouldn't feel as left out while the other two hissed at each other.

The three wizards and one cackling serpent made their way to the white marble meeting hall with a low dias at one end. Voldemort conjured an unusually plain throne of carved ebony with one large cushion on the floor to his right for his two lovers to sit on. Harry blushed deeply when Severus pulled him into his lap and sat on the cushion, reminding him that he was being kept close due to his earlier adventure. The green-eyed imp didn't realize this was to be part of his punishment until Voldemort manually tied his hands behind his back with a conjured strip of cloth and helped position him in Severus' lap so that he could barely move.

The Dark Lord sat in his throne, snake hybrid glamours up, keeping their leashes in his hand and summoned his minions. At that point he didn't care if Dumbledore had other spies within his ranks he only cared that everyone understood the two wizards at his side were _his_. By the time everyone was assembled in front of him Voldemort just wanted to get the meeting over with and return to ravishing his lovers, working on the next generation of Slytherins. A snap of his fingers and wave of his hand to dismiss the helpful elf had the idiots from earlier retrieved from the dungeons and lying bound at the foot of the dais, the silence was deafening. Voldemort rose gracefully from his ebony throne to visually examine his minions as they all waited in fear of his obvious wrath.

"These fools decided that anyone not of a rank higher than themselves was fair game for their depredations. Those of you who served in the last war, before my fall, know I do not take kindly to the misuse, abuse, or rape of anyone, especially children. You also know that threatening something or someone that is _mine_ is a quick route to a slow painful death. You can thank these three and their actions for dragging you away from whatever you were doing to a special unscheduled meeting to hear something I would have announced at our normal meeting after my Inner Circle was appropriately informed. The two men you see sitting next to my seat are mine, Harry Potter and Severus Snape. How I acquired them is my own business but if I discover any of you attempting to take them from me, harm them, or allow them to come to harm... you will wish you had never been born," Voldemort told them menacingly, his eyes glowing a bright ruby as his dark magic flooded the room and brought the rest of them to their knees. Severus bit back a groan and Harry whimpered at the feel of his magic as it cocooned them protectively and Nagini cackled from her position next to them.

"On a happier note, I have regained my previous features," Voldemort said in a much lighter tone before dropping his glamours completely, simultaneously reeling in his magic and masking his power. The lustful sounds from his minions had his skin crawling, combated only by the earlier sounds of his lover's reaction to his magic. "On a much less happy note these three attempted to take one of my pets. Bella? Would you like to cast the first spell? Nothing lethal mind, I've decided they will be dumped in Diagon Alley as an object lesson for any other would-be rapists thinking of joining my ranks."

"A question my lord?" Bellatrix asked, glancing between her handsome master and what she thought was a disgraced pair of wizards.

"Yes?" Voldemort asked impatiently.

"Was Snapey-poo the spy?" Bellatrix asked, eyes glittering with malice.

"Yes and no. I sent him to spy on Dumbledore and Dumbledore ensnared him with oaths, vows, and other enchantments, twisting them expertly into a net that trapped our dear Severus and silenced him in such a way that he could not give warning nor ask for assistance. All but one oath sworn to the old goat has been successfully negated and I want that one to stay. Severus did his duty and stayed as loyal as he could manage without being slain by Dumbledore's web for that very loyalty, as he is no longer spying there is no longer a need to hide what was done to him. Severus suffered almost as much as those sent to Azkaban did, which is why his punishment is so lenient. As the last of their lines I am requiring both Severus and our little Harry to produce heirs that will be raised in our traditions, not those of the mudblood loving fool," Voldemort explained, giving them all an evil smile that had Harry and Severus shuddering for different reasons than the Death Eaters. They both knew that their master was going to exhaust them before the night was out and then he was likely to keep using them so deliciously well beyond that.

"Should you tired of them my lord I am certain that my husband, his brother, and I can put them to good use," Bellatrix offered in a combination of coy and maliciousness before casting a nasty cutting curse that gradually ate at the edge of the wounds and standing back next to her husband.

The screams of the newly initiated Death Eaters that had gone after Harry made him flinch back into Severus' chest as the next person stood forward to cast. Severus soothed Harry as much as possible and held him close to his chest, both knowing that this was necessary to keep discipline among the ranks and neither liking the fact. Both Severus and Voldemort watched with glittering eyes as the ones who wanted to take _their_ Harry away and hurt him were punished by their fellows.

By the time the last Death Eater cast their spell the group was little more than a pile of shivering, moaning meat and Harry had buried his face in Severus' neck. Voldemort cast a complicated charm over them that was a variation of the Dark Mark before conjuring a rope and enchanting it as a time delay portkey. The special portkey would move them in both time and space only to dump them in the middle of Diagon Alley during the lunch hour the next day. The special variation of the mark decried their status as disgraced Death Eaters and attempted rapists.

Voldemort ordered that Harry's relatives be collected and brought before him before dismissing the Death Eaters and collecting his two wizards, hustling them off to his quarters. Severus carried the still bound imp as he followed behind Voldemort and Harry snuggled into his chest as much as possible. He failed to hide his half hard cock from either of them, despite the cock ring, much to their amusement and curiosity. Harry refused to tell them that the way they had acted had been hot, especially the way they kept him close and protected. The way he had been tied up had just made the whole thing even better because he trusted them not to let him get hurt or to at least get him free to defend himself if something had happened.

Neither Harry nor Severus were surprised to feel the door to their quarters seal behind them. Nor were they particularly surprised at being dragged into the bedroom and roughly stripped before each was snogged senseless, one in each arm, and jointly pinned to the bed. Voldemort made good use of the leashs and still solid collars to position them side by side on the bed with the leashes attached to the headboard, keeping them on the bed and within easy reach.

"Expect to be very sore come morning," Voldemort growled lustfully as he wandlessly summoned the special lube he planned to use on them. The whimpers from Harry and groans from Severus just made him harder.

Placing a small amount of the special lube on his fingers he pinned Severus' hips and used it to paint a spiral pattern around his cock and balls, leaving a trail of liquid ice behind. The wriggling and varied sounds pouring from the reserved man's lips were priceless and he had to spell Severus' hands into place above his head before he was done applying the lube. Watching Severus buck into thin air in an attempt at more friction was delightful the cock ring helping to keep him nice and hard. He used the same lube on Harry's entrance, dragging a screech of shock from the smaller wizard as he tried to get away from the chill of the lube.

"Mount him," Voldemort ordered, releasing all of Severus' restraints but the leash still attached to the headboard. With a moan he quickly obeyed only for both of them to shout at the sudden increase in sensation and the contrast of the heat their bodies to the patterned cold of the special lube.

Allowing both of them to get used to the bombardment of sensation Voldemort gently caressed Severus' back. Whispering a spell that slowly prepared the potions master to take him even while he was seated balls deep in their green-eyed imp he plotted what else he would be doing to them that night and every night from now on. By now they must have realized that he was quite fond of tying them down and fucking them but he also wondered if they realized how much it was a symbol of tying them irrevocably to him and what that would lead to.

The whimpers and moans from his lovers brought him back to the gorgeous sight of Severus twitching while trying not to move, panting hard and buried deep inside Harry's hole as the spell finished preparing him to take his master. Voldemort smiled viciously, enjoying the domination of having them both willingly at his utter mercy and the thought that he would make sure they could barely move by morning. Without a second thought he spread Severus' thighs and buttocks before slaming into him with a single thrust, trusting their previous play and the magic of the preparation spell to keep him from harming the other male. The cry of shock from them both was music to his ears, especially as the strangled end of the sounds reminded him that they were both still bound in cock rings and unable to come.

" _Mine_!" Voldemort snarled, withdrawing slowly only to slam back inside Severus and drag a cry from both younger wizards. The pace he set had them both gibbering with sensation and the need to come, contained by the cock rings as he forcefully reasserted his claim. The need to keep them close and again prove to them that they belonged to him was so overwhelming he didn't even try to fight it. He came with both their names on his lips as his magic shot through and around them binding them even closer together.

Nearly passing out from the overwhelming pleasure Voldemort was grateful that he had opted to trap them under him and tie them to the bed. He didn't want either of them out of arm's reach for the next twelve hours at minimum. The whimpers and lustful groans of his trapped lovers reminded him that he hadn't let them come yet. Deciding to be merciful and simply play with them later he magically banished the cock rings and, still buried inside Severus, enjoyed their thrashing and shouts as they unexpectedly came.

"We will be making a trip to Gringotts in the morning and if I have my way they will be certifying our bonding," Voldemort muttered sleepily as he gently withdrew from Severus before helping his lovers separate after the intense love-making session.

"Why?" Harry asked with a wide yawn, still blissful from his own orgasm.

"Foolish boy, he said something about certifying our marriage," Severus muttered, not really registering what he was saying or what he had heard.

Voldemort chuckled quietly, a soft look on his face as he carefully cleaned and tucked his exhausted lovers into bed by hand. The Dark Lord absently released the magical matching leashes, putting them away so that the three of them wouldn't tangle with the sturdy leather in the night and get hurt. Opting to leave the collars solid for the moment as they all cuddled and went to sleep, anticipation burning inside Voldemort for what the next day would bring.


	9. Harry's Cleansing

Voldemort woke to the quiet of the early morning, glad that he hadn't pushed his two lovely pets the night before. He would enjoy pushing them to their limits when they were legally, irrevocably, his and unable to be taken from him. Of course Harry's deplorable lack of knowledge would have to be rectified. He would need to be properly schooled in magic along with history and his lordship duties. Duties that Voldemort would insist that their little imp fulfill with full knowledge of what was going on, thus able to make informed decisions.

Yes, there was a good chance that Harry would vote in opposition of some of the things he wanted done. What mattered to him though was that Harry would be informed and _able_ to make his own decisions. That's when he remembered that he hadn't purged Harry of any nasty enchantments using the collar as he had with Severus. Deciding to correct the grievous oversight Voldemort quietly reached over and pressed firmly on Harry's still solid collar, immediately bringing the magical diagram flooding into his mind.

The web of colored magic was intricate and far more vast than anyone but a virtual puppet directed by magic should hold and in some ways not even then. The shear number of spells, potions, and general foreign magic that had been cast on Harry had Voldemort's blood boiling. Thankfully, he kept his temper enough to safely examine the magics surrounding his youngest fiance. Not that his two wizards realized he was going to actually marry them but that would be driven home when they got to Gringotts later that day. 

Voldemort easily recognized the black-green of his horcrux embedded in Harry's scar and the brilliant fading crimson of what was left of the blood protection that Lily had granted her son the night of her death. What had him really worried was the pale orange of the compulsion charms, the light lavender-blue of enforced loyalty charms, and the sickly yellow-green of the seals placed to limit Harry's power. Nearly every single one had a touch of Dumbledore's magic and those that didn't had someone who was well known to be irrevocably, absolutely Dumbledore's man.

Voldemort growled low as he realized that some of the potions would need either time or a potion flush to clean them out. Blessedly, the collars themselves and the implied contract that came with them negated any responsibilities and duties both Severus and Harry had except those he allowed them or enforced himself. As a result of this aspect of the captive bride collars Severus was still bound by his promise to protect Harry and they were both bound by his requirement that they provide him with heirs for their lines. It also had the bonus of neutralizing the effects of any potion that the magic of the collar deemed harmful to the captive bride unless specifically allowed by the captor, in this case Voldemort himself. This didn't remove the potions but it did make the situation less worrisome and gave him a complete list of what had been given to his imp along with all of the spells cast on him that remained.

It took him nearly two hours to carefully and safely remove most of what had been used against Harry, leaving only his horcrux and Lily's lingering protection. It was obvious when he came out of the magical trance that Severus had been up for some time and recognized what he was doing. The magic had just as obviously kept Harry from waking and breaking the connection making the procedure far safer than the emergency one he had done on Severus.

"How is he?" Severus asked softly as Voldemort slumped back onto the bed next to a lightly moaning Harry.

"I left the remains of his mother's protection in place alongside the precious magic he is holding for me, everything else I removed. The collars neutralize the harmful potions until they can be flushed or will naturally fade from his system," Voldemort explained, to tired to even drag them both into his arms to cuddle and mentally resigning their trip to Gringotts for either that afternoon or the next day.

"You're just grumpy 'cuz you can't cuddle with us," Harry said with a yawn, forcing Severus to bite back a laugh at their master's obviously disgruntled look over being rightfully caught out and unable to do anything about it.

"Brat," Voldemort hissed tiredly. "I want both of you taking a system flushing potion so that the magic isn't fighting as hard to keep someone else from controlling you. Depending on whether anyone has brought back _accurate_ information or those blasted muggles we'll be doing several different things, one of which is appearing at Gringotts to certify our marriage."

"I thought that was a dream," Harry said in obvious alarm, unable to drag himself either off the bed or further onto it as he mentally panicked.

"I am a possessive bastard, you both know this, do you honestly think I'm going to let either of you go if there's a way to keep you? Especially legally?" Voldemort shot back with a snort of both derision and amusement.

"I presume we will both be registering as submissive to you?" Severus asked neutrally.

"Naturally," Voldemort agreed with a tired cheerfulness that bordered on malicious glee.

"Out of curiosity why are you not drawing magic from us through the collars to replenish what you have just used?" Severus asked in such an off hand manner that Harry nearly did a double take. Voldemort muttered something but didn't budge, nor did he try to draw magic from them, leaving himself extremely vulnerable to anything they might choose to do to him. Harry forced himself to roll over and pin Voldemort the best he could to the bed before hissing into the older wizard's ear in parseltongue.

"~What aren't you telling us? Why are you leaving yourself wide open? We could kill you like this.~" Harry hissed, doing his best menacing voice and failing miserably. Both Voldemort and Severus were instantly hard in a way they hadn't realized was possible before. Apparently something about developing a strong emotional attachment could make anything your partner(s) said or did hellishly sexy at the worst possible moment.

"If I drain you of your magic you won't be able to defend yourselves and my punishments aren't as effective on some of my more unstable followers. You would need to beat them yourselves to get any sort of a reprieve and if you were seen defending me it would just help your position. Besides you could have swiped a knife from dinner or something long before this and slid it between my ribs as I slept. You both agreed to be my pets and you both know what I'm like at my worst. I would be pissed if you tried to kill me and you would be punished severely once I caught you again but it told me a great deal about how far I can trust you," Voldemort admitted with a superior smirk that made Harry just want to smack him.

Severus on the other hand allowed his mask to slip briefly and show his utter relief before his features went back to completely neutral. They faced each other in silence for a few moments before Voldemort gave a jaw cracking yawn and ordered Severus back into bed. They didn't make it to Gringotts that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it for the moment. Five month's work off and on for writing this very insistent Bunny.  
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


	10. Bonding

The next morning Severus disappeared into Voldemort's attached and hidden private potions lab with explicite instructions to make a potion to flush out any lingering potions in the two of them. Harry on the other hand decided to try and convince Voldemort to wait or at least change his plans a bit. He was still insanely grateful that they hadn't realized he was wearing a glamour or rather a set of glamours despite his apparent inability to keep quiet about the Dursleys.

Harry supposed that it was at least partly the magic of the collars and his status as a captive bride, if a willing one, that encouraged him to share. As for the glamours and the scars they hid. He really hoped that they thought Madam Pomfrey had managed to heal them flawlessly instead of never having seen them in the first place.

The dark magic of his... fiances was incredibly soothing and arousing. Harry had to fight not to react during their dark arts lessons despite wanting to melt into a puddle of goo. It reminded him uncomfortably of his potions lessons since the just before his name came out of the goblet of fire in his fourth year. They might be lovers now and Severus had started to show his more caring side but before their capture Severus had played his part almost too well. The end result was that Harry had honestly believed that the other man hated him with a nearly terrifying passion.

A small smile graced his lips as he remembered how that passion had been revealed as a protective force rather than a destructive one. Harry was so distracted he didn't realize that Voldemort was coming up behind him until the older wizard took him in his arms and kissed him. Fighting not to melt into his arms Harry remembered what he had been planning to talk to the man about.

"I.. I don't think it would be safe to get married," Harry said breathlessly. He wasn't surprised to feel Voldemort's grip tightening and the gentle kiss getting more firm.

"I know the risks little Harry. I also know that they are worth it. Besides the goblins know how to be discrete and any goblin certified document is equally accepted by the ministry. Have no fear, you will both be legally mine by nightfall," Voldemort hissed possessively into his ear.

"But Dumbledore..." Harry started only to be cut off.

"Dumbledore will have no say once the ceremony is complete and the papers are signed. The only way he can prove our marriage invalid is via the same tests that will be administered before hand by the goblins themselves. Goblins will never certify a full marriage that is entered into under the effects of a magical compulsion or love potion. The ministry, unfortunately, is not so rigorous with its testing when such magic is suspected in a marriage. There are some bondings recognized by all since they tend to dispel the magics involved leaving only true emotions and intentions behind. The upside of being released in this manner is it makes your own emotions and intentions painfully clear to you," Voldemort informed him, never releasing the smaller wizard from the possessive hug. He knew that Severus would never willingly submit to being cuddled like this, which is why he restrained himself for the most part in regards to the other man. Harry though, was still in a rebellious stage and needed to understand how entirely he belonged to Voldemort. Besides the way Harry leaned into the attention like a cat was adorable.

"And what bonding are we using?" Severus asked as he returned to the room with the completed potion, having left the door to the lab open a crack in case they needed him.

"We are going to be using one that removes everything but also works with the captive bride enchantment I have on the two of you. There were times in ages past that the enchantment was actually used as a protective measure. When I used Harry's collar to clean out the enchantments on him the other night I realized that we have unwittingly been using the one which _requires_ full consent of the captives to work properly. The other one, for which both spells were named, was created from this one and used primarily to enforce marriage contracts with reluctant brides. Neither of them were ever banned but they also fell out of use around the time we went into hiding," Voldemort explained, noting that Severus carried not two doses but three. "Admittedly, since I used an appeal to Lady Magic I wasn't certain how you would be bound to me just that if it worked you both would be."

Seeing his glance at the potions Severus explained softly, "I hoped you would also be willing to take a dose. I know we didn't check you but I thought that it would better to be safe, especially with your status as the Dark Lord."

They moved to the bathroom and stripped, climbing into the shower so they could turn on the warm water the moment they had all taken the potion. Voldemort accepted his own dose without comment but refused to let Harry out of his arms while he took it, feeling extremely vulnerable. Severus hesitated a moment as Harry took his own dose of potion before Severus wrapped his arms around them both after swallowing his dose and flipping the water on. They stood there like that while the potion made its way into their systems, burning lightly in their stomachs and blood as it worked, sweating the potion residue out of their bodies at a highly accelerated rate.

Voldemort gave a light groan half way through the process and forced himself not to double over, taking comfort in the hold he had on Harry as well as Severus' own hold on them both. At the sound Harry glanced up at the two taller wizards and saw the pained look on Voldemort's face as well as the stubborn look on Severus' as they held on tighter. The pain from the potion flush quickly faded as they stood under the cleansing water for an additional twenty minutes to be sure that it was all washed away.

"Once I find who dosed me and with what they are going to be in a lot of pain," Voldemort grumbled as they finished washing up and stepped out of the shower.

Neither Harry nor Severus said anything, slipping into the bedroom for a change of clothes, their earlier clothes having already been collected by the house elves. Both of them had been shocked at the small wardrobe Voldemort's elves had provided for them the morning after their claiming once it became clear that he was keeping them. Voldemort had looked at the provided clothing, noting how easy it would be to get them out of said clothes and snorted in amusement before turning back to his breakfast. Nothing more was said on the matter though both Harry and Severus wondered when they would get a chance to retrieve their things or if their master would provide everything as he had done so far. Both of them had no illusions as to whether Voldemort would make them get proper wardrobes once the marriage was finalized at Gringotts that day.

It didn't take them long to get ready and leave via the floo to Diagon Alley. Voldemort hadn't bothered to put up glamours except on his eyes but he had threatened to tie both of his lovers to the bed for a week if they didn't stick to his side like glue while they were out in public. He did _not_ want to loose them in the crowd, despite their early departure, or to some idiot who decided it was a good idea to kidnap them. There was going to be enough of a ruckus when Dumbledore and the public found out that he had his imp in the first place and probably some demands from the Potions Guild over Severus as well. He had some leeway with Severus due to his original loyalty oath but Harry's status of being the Savior made keeping him more difficult, much less keeping him safe and happy.

They made it safely to Gringotts partly because Voldemort's little message with the disgraced Death Eaters had yet to wear off and there were fewer people in Diagon than usual. Most of the shops were just opening and Voldemort caught his lovers looking longingly at some of the shops. He made a mental note to stop at the Apothecary for Severus and, surprisingly, the book store for Harry at a later time.

The moment they stepped through the doors of the bank a white blur dashed through the closing door behind them. Only Harry's glad cry of "Hedwig!" stopped his lovers from cursing the owl.

"That bird is a menace," Severus hissed irritably before returning his wand to its hidden sheath at his waist.

Voldemort wasn't so complacent and started casting detection spells on the bird. He wasn't exactly surprised to find a tracking charm on the creature but the 16 _other_ tracking charms, more than half of which wouldn't have normally been detected, had his hackles raising. With a low oath he cast the counters and hurried them over to the first free teller.

"May I help you?" the goblin asked sourly.

"I wish to bond with my lovers without the interference of the ministry or _Dumbledore_ ," Voldemort informed him, sending a meaningful glance at the just arriving members of Dumbledore's order. Harry and Severus did their best to ignore the interlopers who were causing problems with other customers in an attempt to find Harry but hadn't yet reached the trio.

"Come with me," the goblin ordered quietly before leading them from the main bank floor to a waiting room deeper in the bank.

The waiting room was simply put together with rich wallpaper and equally rich yet comfortable furnishings for those waiting to be seen by a manager. Voldemort quickly had them situated on either side of him on a couch, his grip a little more firm than usual. Neither Harry nor Severus commented on the firm hold he had on them but they did exchange glances of concern as Hedwig settled comfortably on the back of their couch. All three of them knew that they hadn't been together long but they had entered into the relationship willingly and it wasn't only outside pressures that had them wanting to legally bond. Not that any of them had outright admitted such.

It took half an hour before they were shown to a ritual room. The goblin in the main lobby had obviously noticed the captive bride collars despite being in tattoo form since everything was laid out for the correct bonding ritual. Voldemort guessed that they had been checked while in the waiting room as the ritual room was set up. They stripped off to one side and put on the purified simple white robe that the ceremony would require.

Harry quietly asked Hedwig to guard their stuff mostly to keep her safely out of the way and just plain safe. The owl grumbled a bit but agreed to let her human chick go off with his mates while she watched their things. He barely noticed Voldemort collecting the purified soft cotton rope as Severus led him into the center of the design and they knelt together, facing each other and careful not to disturb the marks on the stone floor.

Voldemort fought to keep his nervousness hidden. This was a huge step and it was a miracle that neither of his soon-to-be husbands had fought him over it. This bonding, this _marriage_ would bind them irrevocably together and they would learn things about each other that no one else knew. Very carefully he wrapped Severus' arms in a length of the cotton rope, tying them behind him in an intricate set of knots before moving on to Harry. The tenderness and gentleness he showed them as they quietly allowed him to bind them would have shocked his followers speechless.

"Harry Potter, Severus Snape, from this day forward I vow to take care of you, cherish you, and love you. The two of you have become my heart in the short time we have been together and my only wish now is to protect you and make you both happy. I would be honored if you accepted my ring and myself," Voldemort told them, trailing an extra length of cotton rope from both of them to him as he stood to one side so they could both look at him.

"I... I know we haven't really liked each other before, and I'm glad I said yes that day. What I mean to say is... yes, I accept your ring and you," Harry said stumbling over his response nervously but still ecstatic on the inside for the caring men he was marrying.

"I too accept your ring and promise," Severus said softly, a sweet smile dancing around his lips as he looked at both of them. The brilliant smile Voldemort gave them both had them barely willing to breath in awe of it.

"Then you are mine and I am yours," Voldemort said happily before slicing into his arm with a ritual knife and bleeding on the ropes.

A burst of magic came from the connection of blood and ropes, engulfing them in a sphere of blue-white light and magic. The magic burned away the ropes and sealed the cut as ropes of magic replaced them and wound about them before fading away to nothing. A thrum of power sank into their very bones as Voldemort helped his husbands to their feet, bringing lustful fire to their blood.

"I'm going to fuck you both _raw_ ," Voldemort told them, groaning in lust and love as he gathered them too him and went looking for somewhere he could make good on his promise. Before they had taken two steps the rings that had appeared with the magical collars flashed into the air in front of them before slipping snugly onto the correct fingers.

"No getting away now," Harry said with a snicker, only to receive lustful growls from his husbands.

In a bout of frustration at being unable to find a bed Voldemort released his magic and transfigured a section of floor into a bed sunken into the stone. Both Severus and Harry stared wide eyed until they were pushed onto the soft padding of the newly created bed. They were caught by surprise a moment later as Voldemort pounced on them and proceeded to make good on his promise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Its probably useless to ask this but... do you guys want the consummation?


	11. Consummation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Exactly what it says on the tin. Leaving the room is next chapter.  
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"My husbands," Voldemort said with obvious relish as he pinned them both flat in the pit bed.

"Bellatrix is not going to be happy when she finds out about this," Severus pointed out in a mixture of amusement and dread even as he leaned into the touch of his husbands' bodies.

"She's got the wrong equipment and still hasn't produced an heir for her husband," Voldemort said with a dismissive snort. "If I wanted her I would have asked for her hand while she was still available. I still don't know what I was thinking when I apparently led her to believe I valued her as more than a loyal servant. To be fair she has the Black madness and Azkaban didn't help one wit."

"As far as I could tell more than half of it is in her own mind, so I'm not entirely certain you are to blame," Severus drawled before burying his nose in Harry's neck as they both lay contentedly underneath their possessive Dark Lord.

"Why are we talking about that crazy bitch?" Harry mumbled into Severus' hair.

"Quite right my imp," Voldemort said wickedly before using his magic to split the simple robes they wore at the seams. Harry yelped in surprise, jerking away a bit only to be dragged back into their arms with a light playful laugh he never knew they could produce. He wasn't quick enough to dodge Voldemort's hand that headed towards his scar or the burst of magic that flowed into it immediately turning him into a pile of blissed out goo.

"And what should we do with our imp, my lord?" Severus asked playfully, mischief dancing in his eyes. He was the most relaxed he had been in nearly twenty years. The ceremony had made him confident in the fact that he was wanted and had two wonderful husbands to share his life with. The relief from no longer being required to risk his life and spy multiple times a week helped too.

"I am tempted to have him take the both of us at once," Voldemort said wickedly.

"Would you quit doing that?" Harry murmured languidly.

"Not a chance," Voldemort shot back with a chuckle.

"Snake," Harry huffed, twitching a bit at the slowly fading pleasure from the horcrux mingling with his husband's magic.

"Kitten," Voldemort teased back. "I think I'll have Severus mount you, maybe I'll take your mouth at the same time. We can save having you wrapped around both of our cocks for later when I've got you both trussed up and at my mercy. Both of you will have felt my cock in your arse before we leave this room. I'll not have anyone trying to take either of you from me on the claim that this marriage isn't consummated or is in any way irregular."

Harry whimpered in want at the suggestions, wiggling a bit in the grip of his husbands. Severus groaned at the thought of pinning the insolent brat to the mattress and being allowed to fuck him hard. Voldemort knew as he looked at them that he would never get tired of tying them down and fucking them silly. The look on Dumbledore's face when they confronted the old meddler with their marriage would just be a bonus.

The predatory look that Voldemort took on had them both shivering in anticipation as to what their husband would do to them. A wash of magic had them both prepared almost instantly and told them that they had a very impatient Dark Lord on their hands. Harry was left to his goo-like state as Severus was pulled into a soul devouring kiss that had him reeling. A focused flare of Voldemort's magic had their collars shifting from tattoo to solid metal in the blink of an eye.

"I'm never going to let the two of you go," Voldemort muttered fervently as he gently settled a dazed Severus on top of a still relaxed Harry.

Encouraging them to kiss he gathered up the remains of their formerly purified wedding robes and transfigured them into silk scarves. Neither of his husbands noticed him as he watched them snog until Harry was begging to be taken. Forgetting about Voldemort for the moment Severus obliged, slipping inside the tight warm heat of his little husband. Voldemort reminded them of his presence by slipping behind Severus and pinning him on top of Harry so that he couldn't move beyond a few half aborted instinctive thrusts.

"Now, now, behave you two," Voldemort scolded playfully, only to chuckle at the frustrated groan from Severus and the whine of want from Harry. "For the first time as husbands I'll not be left out."

Realizing the mistake they had made Severus shot him a sheepish look and relaxed, simply enjoying the feeling of having Harry impaled on his cock. Voldemort made an approving sound before rubbing Severus' back in a comforting fashion. Deciding he wanted to tie them together Voldemort took a strip of silk in hand and wrapped it snugly around each pair of thighs. He thoroughly enjoyed the shiver of their skin under his touch. Harry's incessant wiggling allowed him to give the imp a light smack to a shivering thigh to make him stay still while he worked.

"You will both find that I have been holding back a bit," Voldemort told them with a dark chuckle as he entered Severus with a single sharp thrust that had both of his husbands gasping. 

"~Bastard!~" Harry hissed in parseltongue. Severus groaned his agreement to the sentiment before devouring Harry's mouth in a rough kiss.

"Dark Lord here, of course I can be a bastard," Voldemort shot back with a dark chuckle before setting a brutal pace fucking them into the transfigured mattress.

The only thing that Severus or Harry was able to say after that were incoherent noises and pleas for more. They were so absorbed in the pleasure that Voldemort was able to pull Severus up by his hair and devour his mouth in a dominating kiss with barely a whimper from the sensation addled man. Putting his stamina enhancements to good use Voldemort came twice inside of Severus before withdrawing and flipping the still attached pair to work on Harry.

The sight of Severus' own seed leaking from Harry with his cock still buried inside of the imp had Voldemort instantly hard again. He decided to leave the soft member where it was and proceeded to use his fingers to stretch Harry. Using more conjured lube and taking ruthless advantage of their sensitivity he had them both semi-hard and Harry fully stretched within twenty minutes.

"You're killing us," Severus moaned, barely able to move in his current position of being trapped under and tied to Harry.

Voldemort just grinned and sank inside of Harry's newly lubed hole alongside Severus' still sensitive cock. He relished in the shout of shocked sensation that both of his husbands gave off for a moment before setting a pace that had them begging for release. Deciding to torment the pair he slowed down as he felt the edge approaching, relishing in their pleas and exhausted twitching. An unexpectedly sharp clamp down of Harry's muscles pulled the orgasm out of both of them as Harry once more sprayed his own release across his and Severus' belly's.

"Just for that I think I'll make you wear a vibrator and a cock ring when we get home," Voldemort growled into a blissed out Harry's neck. Both of his husbands were clearly exhausted and he smugly thought of how sore they would be later. He hadn't quite fucked them raw but he also didn't think they would argue the point. Wandlessly he cleaned them and transfigured a spare strip of cloth into a blanket, covering them before shifting off of his husbands. He quickly joined them in the land of dreams.


	12. Lobby Theater

A low worried hooting slowly drew the trio back to the land of the living. The soft hooting for some reason had Harry flashing back to when Voldemort warned off Lucius the morning after their capture and claiming. The proud man had slipped his and Severus' wands onto a side table on his way out of their rooms, freshly cleaned of all tracking and detection charms. They hadn't discovered it until after Voldemort had told them they could keep their wands and had taken a break for a snack. The memory of the surprised look on his husbands' faces had Harry snickering, drawing grumbles of sleepy protest from his two Slytherins.

It didn't take them long to wake properly and let Harry up to go check on Hedwig and their things. The green-eyed imp yelped and glared at his smirking husbands as he was hit with a cleaning spell from behind before reaching the snowy owl. He reassured her with some petting before they all got dressed and prepared to leave the sanctuary of the ritual room. Their clothes were still clean, having barely been worn except to get them from Voldemort's home to Gringotts. They still needed a refreshing charm to get out the minor wrinkles that had developed during the bonding and consummation.

"Aren't you going to change the bed back?" Harry asked curiously, Hedwig cleaning his hair from her position on his shoulder.

"No, they need to cleanse everything any way," Voldemort explained as he led them towards the door to the room. He made sure they were all presentable before leading them out into the short hall and through the door into the lobby.

The Dark Lord was unsurprised at finding the Order loitering in the lobby, still looking for them despite how many hours they had been in the bank and out of sight. A quiet word to a teller explained that they would discuss the finer details of their marriage and finances after the coming confrontation. Thankfully he had already paid for the marriage ceremony via owl. The goblin wasn't happy but then they hadn't been happy at the Order driving away business either so it was allowed. It was easy to tell when they were spotted and the look of resignation on Harry's face had both Slytherins wanting to strangle Dumbledore. Ironically, it was Dumbledore that stopped the rest of his order from rushing over and ripping Harry from his very arms.

"Hello, Tom. I believe that you have one of my students. Why don't I just take him off of your hands," Dumbledore offered, a cold calculating look freezing his blue eyes to ice.

Harry stiffled a whimper at the look, feigning terror and tried to bury himself in Voldemort's side. Severus gently pulled him back and behind their husband, glaring at the Headmaster while slipping a few healing potions into Harry's pocket.

"What have you done to Harry?!" Molly demanded, completely outraged at his implied misconduct. Harry mentally snickered at her jump to the obvious conclusion of being captured and forced to be there. The hat hadn't considered him for Slytherin without reason after all.

"My husband... oh yes he's my husband now, is no longer one of your students. Nor, for that matter, is Severus, who happens to be my other husband. As for what I've done to him? I've married them and the marriage is already consummated. As the most senior of the triad I am the head of our household and family. I want you and your little flaming chickens to stay away from my husbands. If you don't you'll have a blood feud on your hands not only with the House of Dumbledore but every house that has even one family member participating in the assault or your precious order. For most their heads of house would have twenty four hours to disown them, offer reparations, or confirm that they were willing participants. After that every member of their family, man, woman, and child becomes a fair target. I bet I can even convince Hogwarts herself to declare their children threats to the rest of the school," Voldemort declared malevolently. "I am the rightful Heir of Slytherin and Hogwarts is a birthright you have denied me... Perhaps you should have thought harder about your actions before you repeatedly sent me back to the abusive orphanage in the middle of a war zone as a student."

"He what!?" Harry shouted in outraged, lunging at the old man only to be brought up short by a lowly growling Severus. Hedwig had flutter off his shoulder, hooting indignantly to settle on a nearby chair back. She glared at the old one who had upset her newly mated human chick.

"So I was not the first mistreated child you have sent back," Severus sneered, struggling to hold back an enraged Harry. "Stop that brat, or you'll be scrubbing cauldrons for the next three days once we're home."

Harry stopped fighting to get at Dumbledore and settled for glaring viciously at the old man while muttering darkly in his husband's arms. He completely ignored the various looks he was getting from the searchers. The goblins were finding the entire thing vastly entertaining. The patrons, on the other hand, were wondering if they could stay and watch or would have to make a run for it.

"Dumbledore, who is this man?" the dark Auror Severus vaguely remembered was named Shacklebolt asked.

"You told us that he had been kidnapped by Death Eaters, not that he'd gone off to get married," Moody said accusingly, glaring at Severus distrustfully who in turn simply smirked right back.

"My given name is Tom Marvolo Riddle," Voldemort said graciously. "And before you asked Auror Moody, my eyes are read because of an experimental ritual gone wrong. I know that the Headmaster will try to make it out as dark magic use or some other such rubbish. The man repeatedly tried to get me expelled for no reason at school and denied me the Defense position. I suppose with the rumors of the curse on that position that turned out for the best."

"His name is Tom Riddle but he's better known as Voldemort," Dumbledore said flatly, his eyes as hard as granite. "You _will_ return my student."

"Why? So you can send me back to the Dursleys to be starved and beaten some more?" Harry demanded hotly. "You never even asked if I wanted to be part of this damn war. Kept constantly in the dark on virtually everything and tossed into danger every year without even a by your leave! I want nothing to do with you!"

The more information came out the more alarmed the goblins became and the more fascinated or nervous their patrons became.

"Lies! Dumbledore would never do that to you. Stop feeding my godson lies Snivellous!" Sirius practically spat.

"Sirius? Etu?" Harry asked, true tears beginning to well in his eyes as he went limp in his husband's arms while his heart shattered. Severus let out a vicious curse and cuddled his smaller mate to him in an attempt at comfort.

"You shouldn't have done that, Black," Voldemort said voice harsh and eyes flat as he drew his wand. Completely ignoring the flummoxed Headmaster he took on a dueling stance. "You made him cry. You'll wish I had simply killed you by the time I'm done with you."

"Somethings wrong, his reaction is too strong," Severus muttered, glaring at the order members while still cradling Harry's limp form. "He hasn't known Black long enough for this. Rage, yes, anger, yes, sorrow, yes, but heartbreak strong enough to immediately incapacitate? No. What also worries me is that the collars should have suppressed or removed any spells, you explained it yourself."

"Unless the magic involved in our marriage combined with his long term abuse before coming into my care caused an imbalance," Voldemort pointed out, his muscles relaxing but keeping the dueling stance in case one of them attacked. "There were also several suppression enchantments and ability block on the both of you that I removed. Overall the magic released could have easily upset his emotions for several days time."

"I also haven't had a chance to brew most of the potions that might fix the long term damage and he nearly got sick that first meal. His health is a concern we forgot to account for and will still take years to repair," Severus admitted with a grimace, still attempting to comfort a weeping Harry. "If I find he was hiding his symptoms again..."

"We caught it last time," Voldemort pointed out with a snort of wry amusement.

"Of course we did, he forced himself to eat more than his stomach could handle. A simple stomach soother was enough to fix it. I'm still concerned by the obvious cause of a shrunken stomach," Severus shot back as he swung a suddenly exhausted Harry into a bridal carry. "Thankfully it takes more than a month to occur with wizards due to our magic. Not so thankfully its a clear indication that he down played what he told us about his mistreatment at his relatives. Frankly we need to get him home and into bed."

"You're not taking my godson," Sirius snarled aiming his wand at them. Hedwig screeched in outrage at the obvious threat to her wizard and took flight, swooping aggressively between Harry's group and the many drawn wands of the order.

"Perhaps we can be of assistance?" Griphook asked from off to the side with a toothy grin. "A Gringotts mediator can clear this up and assist with any and all legal considerations... for a price. The information revealed today has already triggered a full audit on several accounts and Gringotts would like clarification on several points."

"Is Gringotts willing to provide a healer and curse breaker for the negotiations?" Voldemort asked tersely.

"Certainly," Griphook said, smiling widely. "We are also willing to help enforce the peace during negotiations."

"Agreed," Voldemort said shortly.

"Hell no! You are going to give me back my godson!" Sirius snarled before lunging towards were Severus was still holding Harry. No one expected him to get beaned in the head by a bronze sorting tray from one of the tellers. By the time he slumped to the floor in a daze every single goblin in the bank had a weapon aimed at Dumbledore and his order members.

"Gentlemen, it appears we do not have a choice," Dumbledore said gently, his eyes still hard as he surveyed what they would be fighting and judged that it wasn't worth the risk. "Would you be so kind as to lead us to the negotiation room master goblin?"

"Certainly. One of the bank managers will be present at all stages to act in the interest of Gringotts and the goblin nation," Griphook told him with a smirk before leading them from the lobby and away from prying eyes.


	13. Negotiations? Verification

Remus gave a limp Harry such a disappointed look, cutting him deeply as the werewolf helped a dazed Sirius into the room the goblins had provided. The glare that both of his bondmates sent in return nearly had Moody drawing his wand. The only thing that kept the paranoid Auror from trying to hex the trio was the clearing of a goblin warrior's throat, reminding them of the enforced peace. Voldemort quietly asked for a cot to lay Harry on and for the goblin provided healer to check him. Both were quickly provided as both sides patiently waited to see what, if anything, was wrong with him.

"Its almost like he had morning sickness or dizziness from being pregnant," Tonks muttered quietly, less than three feet from Sirius and not quite low enough to avoid being overheard.

"Wait, consummated? You got my godson pregnant?! I'll kill you!" Sirius practically roared, finally processing the words said in the lobby. Lunging forwards in an attempt to strangle Severus, who stood next to Harry's cot, only to be brought low with a deep bong by one of the goblin shields impacting on his head.

"You got me pregnant? But I'm a boy," Harry said in complete shock just as the healer finished his examination. Voldemort quickly pulled him into his arms and started muttering soothing words accompanied by a gentle rocking motion. The Dark Lord remembered his own shock at discovering wizards could have babies.

"How did you think we were to provide him heirs?" Severus asked in gentle amusement, glad that Voldemort thought to comfort their husband. "Wizards, especially powerful ones, can have babies."

"He's not pregnant, at least not yet. Whatever magic was sitting behind his scar has merged with him, safely I might add. The magic of your marriage boosted the process and sealed it. Unfortunately there were some side effects, a magnification of his emotions, an intense need to stay near his bonded, that sort of thing. The magnified emotions should fade quickly, within the next several hours. The need to stay near his bonded will likely remain for at least a week if not a full month or two. It also wouldn't surprise me if he's going to be insatiable in bed for the next month or sleeping, depending," the goblin healer told them toothily, clearly enjoying the chaos the possibility was causing among these wizards.

"Perhaps you would also care to examine Mr. Black? With how many times he's been hit over the head today, I daresay he has a concussion by now," Dumbledore suggested as he twinkled at them all.

The healer glanced at the animagus only to snort and wave the concern away, "He's fine. Poke him and if that doesn't work threaten to freeze his balls off. I guarantee that will get him to stop acting like a spoilt child. Don't forget to follow through if he continues to be stubborn. Alternately you can let him sleep it off but you'll have to fight him to a standstill when he wakes. The Dementor effects left quite a bit of damage and its likely a miracle he hasn't gotten himself killed or done something else equally idiotic. Don't be surprised if he mistakes people for their younger selves or someone similar looking for someone he knew."

The healer quickly packed up and left. Not once did Voldemort or Severus stray from between Harry and the order members, shielding him from hostile gazes and disappointed looks. Griphook quickly brought them back to order and glared everyone into their respective seats. Harry made sure to sit between his husbands, far out of reach of Dumbledore and his order.

"Harry, why haven't you contacted your friends? They are quite worried about you," Dumbledore asked in as grandfatherly a tone as he could manage. He had tinged his words with disappointment as if Harry had a choice in contacting anyone.

"Spare me the poorly concealed guilt trip," Voldemort said sarcastically in an attempt to protect his husbands. "It wasn't his choice nor did I give Severus a chance to contact you. So unless you'd rather I'd delivered their corpses to the gates of Hogwarts you _will not blame them_. Be grateful I overruled Bella and Lucius as to their placement. The only choices they had were between my personal hospitality or the dungeons and, later, if they would marry me. The marriage proposal, as you can see, was completely serious and was honestly delivered without any hint of harm," the glower he gave them all was deadly and had more than one order member flinching away. As for the goblins, the entire situation just amused them.

"You haven't even tried to determine our health," Severus pointed out acidly, glaring at all of them in a mixture of disgust and disappointment.

"I know the goblins asked us to sit down and discuss whatever this is but I honestly don't see the point. They're never going to understand," Harry said bluntly, glaring across the table at his former allies now that his panic over the flood of emotions had subsided. "Dumbledore kept sending me back to get starved and locked into a cupboard each summer so why should he actually care about our marriage? The only reason I can think of is that he wants to destroy it and us, like the Dursleys tried to do to me. I'm probably lucky Vernon didn't take it into his head to rape me or sell me to people who would."

"You've gone dark," Dumbledore said with appropriately feigned dread, inwardly fuming at the loss of control. He also completely ignored the bitterness and fury that laced Harry's voice when he talked about his home life.

"Simply wanting to be treated with even basic courtesy is hardly reason to be accusing someone of rapine and murder," Griphook said scornfully as he slid into his seat at the negotiating table. "Don't bother to deny it, any time one of your faction uses that term that is exactly what you are accusing them of. Now, in the course of this conflict there have appeared irregularities within the various Gringotts accounts that are represented at this table. As such, before mediating said conflict the irregularities must be addressed and accounted for. Normally, we would be addressing this with the individual account holders but there is ample evidence that some of the issues were blatantly used to fund part of this conflict."

"What irregularities?" Moody asked suspiciously while Dumbledore seemed to get slightly more pale. Sirius picked that moment to break from the daze he was in and say something stupid.

"Wha? James! Jamesyboy! I missed you. Come on, let's leave these stuffy adults and go somewhere more private," Sirius said with a happy slur, acting as if he were drunk.

"Uh... I'm not James," Harry said uncertainly. Sirius waved it off with a barking laugh before lunging forwards and kissing him.

The entire room was frozen for a moment before Harry was suddenly jerked backwards by one of his husbands while the other started hexing the animagus. The goblins kept most of the Order members out of it. They couldn't do much about the full fledged duel that had sprung up between Harry's husbands and his two godfathers. Griphook had pulled him free of the mass of flying spells, earning a thankful nod from Severus as he turned to stop a nasty slicing curse from Lupin. The duel went back and forth for a good five minutes before Harry got fed up with it and let his full magical power loose. His magic surged forwards and slammed into the four duelists, cocooning protectively around them while stopping the fight cold.

"James, I was just about to curse Snivelly good!" Sirius whined, giving Harry puppy dog eyes. Harry's own eyebrow twitched in a combination of annoyance and exasperation. The pain he was feeling at those words had him barely aborting a flinch mid motion and his husbands immediately growling in fury again.

"Griphook, if any of those irregularities are on my accounts I promise you I did not authorize them," Harry said flatly, eyes never leaving his godfathers. "I was unaware of my single vault here until July 31st 1991 when Hagrid brought me to get money for my school supplies. The only times money was withdrawn for my actual use, to my knowledge, was when we went to Diagon as a group for school supplies."

"Single vault? The Potter family has nearly thirty," Griphook said with a deep scowl at this disturbing indication of mishandling if not outright fraud. "When did you hear your parent's wills, there's a notation in your file that you have but no associated date and time."

"They had wills?" Harry asked in curiosity, accidentally releasing the former combatants from his magic. Severus and Voldemort landed smoothly, quickly coming to stand next to him as Griphook showed him something from inside a folder. Remus and Sirius, on the other hand, landed in a heap on the stone floor.

"You have no knowledge of any of this," Griphook concluded, watching Harry's face and the increasing fury.

"His lack of knowledge was something we were going to address with Gringotts within the next few months. He's been raised essentially in isolation while suffering from drastic abuse from his caretakers. Its actually one of the reasons I requested the marriage ceremony that we used," Voldemort explained in an aggrieved tone, keeping himself between his husbands and the order idiots. "His obvious lack of heir training and general lack of information was discovered within the first 24 hours since I actually bothered to talk with them upon their unauthorized capture by Bellatrix, Lady Lestrange. I had wanted to know why he ignored my offers of reconciliation and truce, offers he never received."

"You have made attempts to end this conflict?" Griphook asked sharply, glancing up at him. Voldemort nodded solemnly and pulled his husbands into a loose hug with either arm.

"You can not possibly believe these lies," Dumbledore protested. "He would do anything to force your cooperation."

"Why in hell would I lie to the goblins? They're neutral and have already discussed why they will stay that way with me. I found their reasons completely understandable and got their neutrality in writing. Its not like I care what you and your patsies think since anything I do is evil in your eyes no matter the reasons or methods," Voldemort retorted with a snort of disgust at the poor manipulation attempt.

"You won't even pay attention to Harry, how can you care about him at all?!" Remus shot back, trying to get everyone refocused on Harry.

"Severus is more than capable of tending to Harry. I am not willing to trust that you and your little friends won't try to take him by force when my back is turned or attack from behind. If he really is your cub, _wolf_ , you should have made sure he was actually being taken care of and not _abused_ by the muggle filth your precious Headmaster calls his family. I will use any means to keep him from returning to that hell," Voldemort spat at them coldly. Harry's bright smile brought more than one order member up short, they had never seen him so apparently happy.

"As of now Gringotts has verified that the so called Dark side of the wizarding war has made multiple attempts at reconciliation and if not truce or treaty than at least a cease-fire. The established light party is perpetuating the conflict. These findings will be filed with the appropriate governing bodies on record. Lord Voldemort and his husbands are free to leave. Lord Dumbledore and his people are to remain and answer questions regarding their interference with bank administration and assets," Griphook declared formally, quickly escorting the trio out of the negotiation room, locking Dumbledore's group inside. Voldemort wasted no time in whisking them home and back into his rooms.


	14. Pay Up

"Now that we have some time, lets start going over some of the irregularities, beginning with the withdrawal on November 5, 1981," Griphook said with a malicious smile as he opened a very large file.

"Ah, yes the initial payment to help Harry's family so that they might raise him properly," Dumbledore said knowingly, inwardly wondering if they would be covering _everything_ since the Potter's deaths.

"No receipts were ever submitted for his care nor was their confirmation of their status as his caretakers," Griphook said pointedly. "You authorized the payment on the grounds of being Mr. Potter's magical guardian yet Sirius Black was only newly in Auror custody. He was also never tried or convicted of any crime. As such he was the true magical guardian of Mr. Potter until his successful win of the Triwizard Tournament which automatically granted him adult status. Adult status which was later re-confirmed by the full trial held for Mr. Potter merely months later. These facts make your activity in the Potter accounts completely illegal. We will be expecting full reparations for every item and knut removed since the deaths of Lord and Lady Potter."

"You can't do that!" Someone stammered as Griphook closed the file with the voicing of his ultimatum.

"They can and they are. You'd best find whatever you took right quick, Albus," Mad-eye grunted sourly. He was still sore over not being noticed as an impostor during the tournament year.

"The Potter family invisibility cloak has already been returned and several of the fund transfers are irretrievable," Dumbledore said desperately.

"Then you had best find some equivalent since you can not provide the original. It doesn't matter if the item or sum made its way back into the true owner's hands, you still need to provide something of equivalent value," Griphook said nastily. "As this investigation was launched by the bank petitioning the injured party to _forgive_ the transgression is useless. The honor of Gringotts is on the line."

An icy chill ran down the spine of every non-goblin present as every goblin smiled at them in demonic glee.

"I have one thing of equivalent value to the cloak but it requires the new owner to disarm me themselves to recognize the transfer of ownership," Dumbledore admitted reluctantly. "As is normal, if I can not retrieve the original funds and items I will either provide an equivalent or a matching value of galleons will be transferred from my vault. Might I have a list of all the transactions which will fall under the need for reparations so that I do not miss one?"

"You may. We will even include the minimum equivalent value acceptable for reparations," Griphook said evilly. "The Potter Accounts currently have a new manager and all of you are banned from accessing them or any account other than your own until your death. Have a good day, the guards will see you out. Oh, and Mr. Black, you will be charged with the fine for replacing Healer Gorgain's baby cousin's sheild. I do believe she was displeased that you essentially attacked him after Miss. Tonks suggested your godson might be pregnant. Please remember in the future that _all_ goblin kind are required to serve at least a decade as guards for the bank."

The shell shocked look they sported as a group kept many a person away from them as they left the bank.

The door to the trio's quarters slammed shut, reverberating with protective magic that immediately sprang into existence. It was, however, the way that Harry latched onto both of them the moment they were back in their rooms that clearly told his husbands that the healer's earlier warning was something they had to take seriously. Their little husband was going to be exceptionally clingy, exceptionally horny, and probably exceptionally sleepy for the next month.

"Mine!" Harry declared fiercely, surprising both of his husbands.

"I have some paperwork to do," Voldemort said apologetically. The hurt puppydog look that he gave both of them made their chests ache.

"Brat, we can all sit together and do our work. We aren't arguing what you said, we simply have work that must be completed before we can indulge you," Severus scolded softly, more resistant to the look because of his time as a teacher than Voldemort was.

Harry added a pout to the hurt puppydog look but Severus stood firm even as Voldemort visibly wavered. Finally, their imp caved to Severus' stubbornness and agreed that they each had work to do. What Harry absolutely refused to cave on was that they had to stay in the same room, preferably in close proximity. What that amounted to was that Harry made them all sit on the couch that Voldemort had owl ordered the day before. They each used the coffee table or a special tray so that they could write on whatever parchment they were working on. They spent the day working on their various projects and homework, respectively until Harry gave a jaw cracking yawn. They watched him fall asleep in five minutes flat, ruining his transfiguration essay in the process.

"I'll put him to bed," Severus said with a sigh as he carefully set his tray and work to one side and levitated their husband into the bedroom. Harry was quickly magically cleaned of the spilled ink while another spell switched his day clothes for night clothes.


	15. Breaking the News to the Troops

Harry slept through the night and the next day. Both of his husbands started getting worried, despite the warning of the healer. As a result they were both relieved when Harry accidentally woke them in the middle of the night as he tried to scramble for the bathroom. The fact that he'd fallen asleep again almost immediately did worry them but a quick check by Narcissa told them it was just exhaustion from so much magic use kicking in. When they stopped to consider it all three of them were surprised he'd lasted long enough to get home even with the nap in the ritual room.

Coincidentally, the muggle books and scientific data on genetics and inbreeding arrived via owl that morning, courtesy of several of Voldemort's half blood followers. They spent the time pouring over the material in an attempt to avoid worrying about Harry. What they found showed that while Harry's original explanation had been a bit cobbled together it had also been fairly accurate. The implications and side effects made both wizards sick. It also bluntly explained why so many pureblood families had something wrong with them, especially mentally, or lacked children. The information also clearly showed that muggleborns were decedent of magical blood that had gone dormant before resurfacing in later generations. The references to ancient knowledge and proof that the muggles had simply been building on those concepts cinched it. Judicious use of a permanent duplication charm and an urgent summons had every marked follower at the manor within the hour.

Severus stayed safely in their quarters with a sleepy if now awake Harry while Voldemort presented the disturbing information to his followers. The minions left several hours later with their own copies of the research and a flat order to blood adopt or marry a muggleborn, half blood, or magical creature into their family. To get them to shut up about raw magical power levels he pointed out the blood status of his husbands and Dumbledore, conveniently revealing their marriage at the same time.

The shell shocked minions barely protested when they were told to leave but given permission to see about having muggleborns tested for pureblood ancestry and thus relation to their families. If any relation was proven the family heads would have the right to claim the muggleborn as a member of their house and demand the enforcement of their other rights. It would also allow them to test the parents and claim them as family by marriage, especially if they were found to be squibs.

Voldemort had also informed them about the muggle fertility clinics and invitro fertilization, giving permission to use them or a surrogate provided they had at least one muggle or muggleborn ancestor within the last three generations. He made it very clear that he expected them to have more children with healthier blood. When he got back to their rooms he found Harry practically ravishing Severus and begging to be fucked.

"I see that he succumbed to the side effects the healer mentioned," Voldemort said with a smirk.

"He's voracious! My balls are aching at the thought of _third_ round," Severus admitted before quickly going back to kissing his smaller husband.

"Then I suppose its time to follow through with one of my threats and get at least one of you pregnant," Voldemort shot back before quickly joining them on the bed. What followed was a repeated consummation of their vows by the time they wore Harry out both of them were both pleasantly exhausted.

"I will have to find a way to dampen his libido if this continues," Severus said, exhaustion clear in his voice.

"We'll likely be inundated with hasty gifts, official congratulations, as well as questions about both the research and the orders I gave about adopting and/or marrying magicals who aren't pureblood," Voldemort grumbled as he curled up with his husbands. "I did have the sense to tell them about surrogates and invitro fertilization that was mixed into the genetics research. I'll have to find out who was smart enough to add those options into the report and reward them."

"Thank god for that," Severus said grumpily. He was not looking forwards to a flood of requests for the potions the Death Eaters would require to succeed at their latest task. The thought of all of them having children and integrating muggleborns into the magical world, regardless of how it had been phrased, was more than slightly daunting, especially since many would ask him for the potions due to his skill in the art.

The two older wizards soon joined Harry in the land of nod, cuddling together throughout the night.


	16. Bargain Done

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for taking so long. Musey was being fussy and I've been sick. This is actually part of the reason for the random updates tag, the other part is that I have never had a set schedule and tend to post as soon as its written. Enjoy!  
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A week later Harry's libido finally calmed down enough that they weren't having to stay with him nearly constantly. He still cuddled up to them as often as he could get away with it and both of his husbands became oddly protective to the point that the younger man wanted to scream. It was Voldemort who put the pieces together and cast the pregnancy detection charm one night. Humming in satisfaction he joined his husbands in bed and made a point to curl protectively around both of them. He hadn't expected to get them both pregnant at once but the Dark Lord wasn't complaining in the least. A quiet word to the elves had all the potions ingredients that would harm the baby in preparation or in brewing locked up. He wasn't going to take away Severus' brewing but he also wouldn't be taking any chances with his husbands or his future children.

The morning after checking his husbands Voldemort dragged up the courage to inform them of his findings.

"As you know I cast a spell on you both last night," Voldemort began nervously, immediately gaining their undivided attention. "It was the pregnancy detection charm... congratulations, you are both roughly nine months shy of completing your end of our original agreement. Its part of why Harry isn't ravening for sex anymore, the pregnancy rebalanced his system."

It took them both a moment to figure out what he meant by that before both younger wizards were gaping at him in shock, a hand instinctively moving to cover their bellies and the life within.

"Babies?" Harry asked dazedly.

Voldemort nodded smugly, thoroughly pleased with his accomplishment. He honestly didn't care which of the three of them had sired the children, especially since their marriage had made any blood adoption unnecessary. _All_ of their babies would show as having three parents on any inheritance test, something that was impossible for muggles. It was actually one of the reasons why he considered magicals a different species entirely from the rest of humanity, some might not even consider them human, only magical.

"A family," Severus said softly, each of the pregnant males gaining a soft look at the thought.

A panicked floo arrival interrupted their tender moment as expectant parents.

"My lord! Dumbledore is interfering with our attempts to find and claim our muggleborns!" Lucius informed them as he stumbled into the room, completely disheveled. "He's attempting to twist the situation so that he can charge us for kidnapping and line theft! As well as trying to get the testing banned!"

"Well, we couldn't actually expect him to leave us alone," Harry said unhappily, looking at his remaining food almost mournfully before taking on a determined look and standing from his seat. "Alright, lets go. Did he throw a fit at Gringotts, the Ministry, or in Diagon Alley?"

"The two of you aren't going," Voldemort said shortly.

"And let him get you arrested as a terrorist, Dark Wizard, and Dark Lord? Not likely," Harry shot back with a snort of amusement. "Besides, how much do you think it would throw him for us to show up in support of the orders you've given to your minions? He might start thinking that we're a moderating influence or something. If we're lucky he'll push his luck and try to take us, proving himself in the wrong. It will also put you in a position to publicly point out that he's been vilifying you since before you graduated. We can also use it to announce the pregnancy. It will just burn him to know that we are carrying your heirs."

Voldemort couldn't argue with that but he was tempted to lock them into the manor and leave them behind any way.

"If you try to leave us behind, pregnant or not, we can and will find a way to get our revenge," Severus warned softly. Nagini, visiting her human while he ate now that there were babies on the way, laughed; Both she and her wizard knew he'd been outmaneuvered. Grumbling under his breath he motioned for his husbands to walk with him. Lucius quickly dashed ahead of them and waited to call out the destination until they were close enough to hear it clearly.

"Leaky Cauldron!" Lucius cried before practically diving into the roaring green flames of the floo, the dark trio following on his heels.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's likely to be another chapter after this one within 48 hours, musey got inspired by someone. *amused glare at reviewer who knows who they are*


	17. Cauldron of Emotions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter two!  
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The first thing they heard when exiting the floo was Dumbledore's voice protesting the test, loudly decrying it as unnecessary and discriminatory to the non-purebloods. From that Harry immediately inferred that the test was being offered to everyone with any non-magical heritage, which made sense in the fact that if the muggleborns had unknown magical family then the halfbloods probably did as well.

"I will not allow you to taint these children!" Dumbledore said adamantly, abruptly breaking Harry's patience for the situation.

"Taint? Taint!? You bastard all you want to do is play puppet master with their lives like you did with mine!" Harry snapped out, drawing everyone's attention to their arrival in the process. The shocked looks on the faces of more than half the people present was mildly satisfying but it didn't distract the young man from the target of his ire. "It wouldn't surprise me in the least if you were somehow getting magic, gold, or Wizengamot seats from them because they don't know our laws yet. For that matter you're the one in charge of teaching them, us! Why isn't there a government class? Or one on politics? Basic contract law? Rituals? _Healing_? _Culture_?! I looked when I got to pick my courses. I looked when I first came to Hogwarts even more clueless than the other muggleborns because you didn't let me have the information that everyone else got. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if you planned to kill me or send me to my own death or something to keep me from overshadowing you and taking your power."

"Harry..." Dumbledore began only to be cut off again by the irate pregnant man.

"No! You don't get to talk. You don't get to go telling more lies and playing all knowing reincarnation of bloody _Merlin_. You aren't him. Your _Greater Good_ is nothing good for the rest of us. All its good for is lulling people into complacency so that you can play _god_. And don't you _dare_ claim that I've gone dark or that my husbands are controlling me because I'm saying things you don't want to hear or want people to know! I refuse to be labeled evil _again_ because you don't like that I'm not a perfect little puppet weapon obeying your every whim. I am not a god damned _puppet!_ " Harry ranted. Had he stopped to look at the faces of his husbands, Dumbledore, or the crowd for even a moment he would have burst out laughing as their expressions were simply priceless.

Harry was taking a breath to continue his vicious rant when Severus stepped up and kissed him into silence in front of everyone. Dumbledore made a strangled sound that was music to Lucius' ears. Voldemort was completely oblivious of his surroundings, relishing in the knowledge that these two handsome and powerful men were his husbands. Someone moved and Voldemort quickly swept the two behind him with a possessive and protective growl, glaring at the crowd for good measure.

"Harry is the one who came up with the test as an option to limit the violence in this stupid civil war and fix some of the genetic damage that the purebloods have been suffering. A war which you seem to be purposefully extending Dumbledore since I had to find out from my husband that the multiple attempts on his life were unnecessary. You interfered with the official and _legal_ attempts to end the fighting with a truce issued between families. None of this would have been necessary if you'd just done your damned job and stuck to educating students to the fullest instead of deciding who was evil and irredeemable at age _eleven_ , instead of playing puppet master. Why don't you tell them what the blood test does Albus? No? It tells them what they legally inherit that was left by their ancestors in our world and if any family is still alive so that they can be reunited and properly integrated, so that they won't be _alone_ in our world. But you don't want that do you? You don't want them to know what the hell is going on. You don't want them to take anyone's word over yours," Voldemort sneered. "I would never have become the Dark Lord if you hadn't continued to send me back to nearly certain death each summer and instead made sure I was reunited with my family. You could have saved all those lives by staying out of politics and doing your job as a teacher instead of arranging for the laws that suited your purpose to be passed, some of which ban various people from getting jobs and vilifying others. We aren't blind to what you are doing so you call us evil and say we need to be imprisoned, enslaved, or killed. Sounds a lot like Hitler and Grindelwald to me. At least I am upfront with everyone I deal with, they know exactly what to expect when it comes to me."

"The collars..." Dumbledore began angrily.

"Are the only thing that canceled out the potions and spells _you_ used on us so that we could make our own damned choice!" Harry practically screamed at the old man. Severus quickly kissed him a second time, forcing the younger wizard to calm down without the risk to the baby from a standard calming draught.

"Calm down imp, these histrionics aren't good for the baby," Severus scolded just loudly enough to be heard by everyone. Upon hearing this Dumbledore went bone white and started to sway a bit.

"He's being a bastard. I found a way to fix this and he's trying to break it," Harry complained miserably earning a hug from his stern husband.

"Which is why we're here to fix it and why we wouldn't let our husband leave us at home," Severus soothed, cuddling the smaller wizard close.

"Hormones?" Voldemort asked with obvious dread.

"Actually, he needs a nap. The way his system has been swinging back and forth matched with how unhealthy he was when he came to us is stressing his system. I will need to figure out a special nutrient potion for him since both he and the baby need them. I can only guess that the strength of our combined magics is to blame for the prenancy since muggles require a certain amount of fat on their body to conceive. Its a survival trait to ensure there is enough food for the new baby until he or she needs less immediate food," Severus explained as he checked Harry with another diagnostic spell.

"I should have just locked the two of you in our rooms," Voldemort sulked.

"And we would have made you pay for it," Harry said smugly, proving to all of the people with marriage experience that Voldemort wasn't in control of them once and for all.

"Aurors are coming," Lucius pointed out softly. "Dumbledore convinced them to put out an arrest warrant on the three of you."

"What? Why!?" Harry demanded incredulously.

"He's done this before," Voldemort said heavily. "He's gotten so many of the dark either arrested or with warrants issued for them that its ridiculous and most of the time they only told him no about something. Yes, some of those warrants were reasonable and understandable like the one for Bella but more than half were trumped up charge. Come on, let the sheeple decide for themselves. Even if Dumbledore gets the test banned they can ask for it at Gringotts. All getting it banned will do is cause every account to default to the goblins upon the death of the owners. No one will ever get any inheritance again."

At those sly words ugly grumbles started to run through the audience. Voldemort was quick to usher his husbands back through the floo just as the Aurors burst into the Leaky Cauldron. The information would be out and spreading like wildfire across the country before the day was out.

When they got home Harry really did need a nap and was quickly cuddled into sleep before being gently placed in the bed. Severus and Voldemort retired to the attached sitting room, tossing up a one-way silencing ward to avoid waking Harry.

"You know seeing Dumbledore reminded me of something," Voldemort opened their discussion amicably.

"Oh?" Severus asked suddenly wary.

"You were never properly punished for falling for Dumbledore's trap," Voldemort said evenly. Severus had the grace to look sheepish at getting caught out.

"And what is to be my punishment," Severus asked quietly.

"Spanking, you need to be reminded not to get yourself into such danger," Voldemort said with mock sternness, taking a seat on the couch and patting his thigh to indicate where he wanted his husband. "At least twenty, maybe thirty I think."

Severus somewhat reluctantly obeyed, draping himself over the other man's lap. Voldemort rubbed his back until the stern man relaxed into a limp noodle laid over his lap. He didn't bother removing the layer of clothing since he wasn't sure if he would hit too hard at first, never having done this before, with that in mind he figured the extra padding would keep him from actually hurting his husband on accident. The first smack came without warning making more sound than sting and startling Severus into gasping. Voldemort quickly fell into an easy rhythm after that, alternating between locations so that Severus' bottom and the top of his thighs were evenly warmed by his hand through the fabric. When he hit twenty five spanks Severus gave into the tears that had been leaking silently from his eyes and let out a soft sob. Voldemort immediately stopped, pulling his husband up into a sitting position on his lap and hugging him close. That was the last straw for the potions master as the flood gate broke and the tears flowed freely. They spent the next hour just sitting there as Severus cried out all the stress, frustration, and terror that had been plaguing him for _years_.

"Better?" Voldemort asked as Severus wound down, resting in the arms of his husband. Severus nodded weakly and tried to cuddle closer. "Its alright, sometimes I need a catalyst to let my emotions out too. If you can't release the emotions some how then they tend to build up and harm you, lashing out unpredictably at everyone. I took away much of your brewing to keep you and the baby safe but I know you use it to help you control your emotions at times. Let me help you with that. Talk to Harry, I bet he'll want to help too."

"Alright," Severus agreed before falling asleep in the arms of his husband, lord, and master.

"Family is precious to me," Voldemort said softly to his sleeping husband. Nagini chuckled softly from her hidden spot in a corner before slipping back out to check on the minions and torment a few of them.


	18. Zoo Surprise

Harry was stuck on bed rest for almost a week after the events at the Leaky Cauldron. Severus put both of them on a potions regime to both help the babies and to keep the two of them from getting sick between the pregnancy and everything else. When they heard about the potions regime Voldemort and Nagini watched both of them like hawks barely letting the elves near them much less anyone else. The fact that they wound up terrorizing anyone who got near the pregnant wizards merely amused the two and made them feel all warm and fuzzy inside, not that they admitted it. Both of them clearly remembered how everything started and the irony of the man who was originally trying to kill them now protecting them whole heartedly made the two of them smile.

There were also near constant reports of various locations and people's homes being raided in an attempt to capture Harry. The official charge had been publicly announced as treason by a minor for Harry and multiple counts of treason by Severus. Voldemort still terrified everyone too much for a warrant to stick even with the public and the Auror Corps now having his birth name courtesy of Dumbledore. Though the idea of banning the inheritance test was very firmly shot down by the public, even Dumbledore couldn't out duel over 200 furious witches and wizards all at once with more waiting in the wings. The goblins were so pleased with this result that they dropped the price of the test in the bank by a full sickle and allowed shops to have a testing station manned by a goblin, charging the original price for the test. The ingredients weren't exactly cheap after all and they wanted those vaults back in circulation... badly.

While they were dealing with the over protective Dark Lord and his familiar Severus and Harry opened up to each other a bit more. It started out as mutual grousing about the coddling and shifted to what they were worried about and why. Harry had found the spanking hilarious but had also understood how therapeutic it was for Severus because of how much control he had to exert over himself for so long. Harry felt the same way about flying, it gave him a sense of freedom when everything and everyone around him seemed insistent on keeping him trapped in some way. Case in point stuck at the Dursleys, his cupboard, stuck at Grimauld place, stuck at Hogwarts... the list went on but he had been essentially confined to 3 or 4 areas his entire life.

When Severus and Voldemort found out about his lack of travel experience they were furious, resulting in an emotional cuddle session in which _Harry_ had to calm his husbands. They started making trips as a family to the beach (in the Caribbean), the zoo, some of the Malfoy holdings, and some of the family holdings that were owned between the three of them. Harry was ecstatic and happily enjoyed the trips much to the pleasure of his husbands. Then on one of their outings closer to home they ran into the Dursleys and things spiraled from there.

Harry never saw the furious blow coming and his husbands were looking in the wrong direction when it happened. It was Dudley's vicious cheer and the shocked shouts of the surrounding muggles that alerted the two to their smaller husband's danger. They didn't wait to find out what had happened. The two Dark Wizards forced themselves through the quickly gathering crowd near the tiger enclosure. Voldemort took up a defensive stance once they found their shell shocked husband sitting on the ground dazidly pressing his hand to a rapidly darkening cheek while Severus checked him over without magic.

" _ **Freak!**_ You dare show your face around normal people?! After what you've done to us?!" Vernon yelled, his voice verging on an infuriated screech. Petunia was no where in evidence, Harry noted absently, recognizing that was probably the reason he'd been hit in public. She wasn't hissing poison in his ear while constantly reminding her husband about what it would look like.

"That isn't wise sir," Voldemort said in a deadly calm that immediately had Severus paying more attention to his Lord's darkening mood than the nominally unhurt Harry. A whispered spell set a monitoring spell and cast a feather light charm so that he wouldn't hurt his back when he picked up their imp.

"This has nothing to do with you. Its between us and the freak," Vernon sneered, motioning towards Harry just as he started coming out of his daze.

"Marvolo, he might have a concussion. I'm surprised that his cheek didn't break with the way its bruising, though he might have a fracture or a hairline break. If we are very lucky the bone was only bruised," Severus informed the Dark Lord, using his middle name as agreed upon for public outings. Deciding to be vicious about the situation the potions master added why they would be lucky if it was only bruising to the bone. "He's still calcium deficient with how his family abused him for so long. With this much rapid bruising I'm surprised that his cheek bone wasn't outright crushed or otherwise broken. I didn't find a bump on his head aside from where the obvious punch landed but with his hair I could have easily missed it if his head bounced off the ground when he landed."

Voldemort's growl was covered by the ugly grumble from the gathered crowd. Vernon understood perfectly that the information about the abuse was aimed at him and his family with the way Severus glared at him steadily while cradling Harry protectively.

"He's a freak and deserved everything he got!" Vernon spat defensively, leading many in the crowd to realize _he_ was one of the abusers.

"I still don't know why he won't let me make it clear to you people that it is not okay to abuse or neglect a child. Regardless of bloodline or natural ability they are still _children_ ," Voldemort said viciously, glaring at the overweight walrus that was the father of his nominal cousin in-law.

"Even animals treat infants and young of other species or from other parents better than some humans do, barring those who are snapped up as food for natural predators looking for lunch," Severus grumbled, the disgust for Vernon clear for all to see. "It makes me wonder if you really are simply that twisted or if you sold your soul to a demon. You're clearly abusing your natural child by being overly permissive if his size is anything to go by and I know that Harry's received numerous broken bones from both you and your spawn. Perhaps someone should ensure that you are sterilized? You clearly contribute nothing useful to the gene pool."

"Just because you have the old fool protecting you and the fact that Harry is overly forgiving of blood relations doesn't mean you won't pay for hurting him," Voldemort warned before turning towards his husbands.

Vernon went puce and before the trio could walk away with dignity he aimed for Voldemort's head. The Dark Lord sensed it coming and ducked, swinging his body around in a graceful move that still some how produced a clumsy punch to Vernon's solar plexus. Vernon wheezed as the breath left his body. Dudley happily jumped in only to receive a side kick to his ample gut from Severus as the Potions Master balanced with his precious burden.

"I would love to give you the same pain that you've given to Harry but our imp must be seen to first," Voldemort sneered.

"Faggots!" Vernon screamed, diving towards them again this time in an absolute rage. Severus quickly stepped back to keep the four of them, Harry, Sev, and the babies, out of danger. Voldemort, on the other hand, quickly relearned fisticuffs and proceeded to give as good as he got in the brawl with the Dursley men. This was too much for the crowd and both overweight opponents were quickly pulled off of Voldemort before being subdued.

"Whatever choices Harry makes are exactly that, his. I won't try to kill you because this is supposed to be a trip to give him the things you denied him when he was locked in that cupboard and I don't want to force these nice people to stop me," Voldemort spat viciously. His heaving breath and slightly battered state accentuating his naturally red eyes into glowing pits of fire as if from an angry volcano. "If you _ever_ come near him again no one and nothing in this world will keep you safe and I won't have to do a thing about it. All that's needed is to publish the details of your abuse of one of our community's heroes and our public will do it for me. In point of fact they'll take you and hand you over on a silver platter if I ask it once they know what you did. Or did you really think that Harry was alone in his talents?"

Vernon and Dudley went bone white, completely understanding the barely veiled mention of magic and the implication of Voldemort being a wizard.

"I'll watch you people burn! Demons!" Vernon raged, forcing additional people to help hold him down.

"What talents?" Someone asked cautiously.

"If you don't know about Diagon Alley then you don't need to know about what we can do. Too many people would abuse or enslave those of us who have these special talents if it were public knowledge. We tell the people who have them or have relatives with them because its dangerous to go without training but mostly we want to be left alone in peace. Some of us join the police or the military to serve our country but most of us are just regular people that need a little special training so that nothing goes wrong even when provoked. Its no different than being a good swimmer or good at chess or being good at maths. Its just a lot more obvious than that when its not working right or we're sick. We set up a second community a long time ago, back in the 1300s, to help protect all of you by leaving you alone and being left alone so that we don't have to fight idiots like this tub of lard that would kill us to the last man, woman, and child. Bigots like Dursley here would rather set off a nuke in downtown London than see even one of us survive much less live our lives in peace. I'm afraid that I lost my temper with them but my training held or I could have really hurt them. Its why those like us are supposed to be found early and told about what they can do. Right now our special policy makers are trying to reintegrate our cultures but neither side is ready for that. We have special laws that apply to us to help protect everyone on both sides because people are people, there are good and bad and just average people everywhere," Voldemort explained.

"We just want to be left alone and the idiots who want to fight or think that they are better than everyone else exist in every culture and community," Severus said with sudden tiredness that had Voldemort looking at him in concern. "We're not idiots but we're also not pushovers. If attacked, we will defend ourselves. We don't want a war but that is exactly what will happen if we don't find the people who need training and make them part of our community. We aren't fear mongers nor are we out to get you. I have no idea why Marvolo thought it was a good idea to share this with you people but secrecy is what has kept us alive and not fighting for centuries. Believe what you want. I don't care if you think the three of us are demons or a threat or if you decide to try and kill us, but leave everyone else like us alone, please? Our community is in upheaval and you may hear of strange occurrences both good and bad. Just like any large group of people there are sometimes conflicts of opinion and policy. We try to keep it as in house as possible and let you go on without worry. It keeps everyone safe on both sides."

"Le's go home. Don' wanna fight," Harry slurred, proving that he did indeed have a concussion. His words reinforced the fact that the magic users didn't want to hurt anyone and definitively proving that the Dursleys were in the wrong. The three wizards turned away from the crowd and simply walked away. A sharp set of cracks after they turned the corner past the reptile house told of their exit.


	19. Politics of Change

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to tell you all with the last posting but this summer has been really rough on my health and the extension on the warm weather really didn't help. Between the nasty pollen, my brain flipping back and forth between a fog covered moor and chaotic confusion, with the added insult of achy hands that randomly stiffen up into claws writing hasn't been as easy or fun as it should be. Hopefully, these symptoms will continue to ease so I can provide more stories for you all to enjoy as well as many updates. 
> 
> If you are willing I wouldn't mind a few prayers in the health direction for me and my family, especially since my nephew is due in December. I already made the stroller blanket for him while my brain was off playing hooky. Basic kitting is really good for mindless creation when you're brain isn't quite working right. *grin*
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Quick thinking by the parents of several muggleborns kept the crowd from spreading the secret and the muggles were all under legal secrecy contracts within 12 hours of the revelation. One of the muggleborn parents in Harry's year had been a Lord of the muggle nobility and had the forethought to get the contracts drawn up in case his son had more accidental magic at home that couldn't be explained away. In a less troublesome aspect of the situation the unexpected group connected several squibs and muggleborn parents, creating a support group that would grow and help others with magical children for centuries to come.

With the squibs and occasional magical in the crowd word spread quickly in the Wizarding World of the event along with the quick solution, forcing the Wizengamot into action. Since Dumbledore had held the Prince and Potter seats until recently and was still thought to hold them he was the one targeted for summoning the three wayward wizards for risking the Statute of Secrecy. That's when the rest of the Wizengamot found out that he'd been holding the seats illegally. Somehow Dumbledore had blocked that little revelation when the trio married, keeping his place as Head of the Wizengamot... barely.

A magical summons, complete with promise of safe passage, was issued for the three wizards from the very annoyed Wizengamot. The demand to explain themselves was blatant. Their status as legal Lords and thus automatic Wizengamot members kept them from being arrested immediately on charges of risking the statute and brought the previous arrest warrants under scrutiny, not that anyone could actually find them because of Voldemort's precautions. Eventually it was decided that Lucius would be "asked" to hand deliver the summons.

"My Lord... the Wizengamot has charged me with delivering a magical summons for an explanation of the incident at the zoo," Lucius informed them warily, not really wanting to be crucioed for being the barer of bad news.

"I wondered how Dumbledore would respond to taking his own advocation and turning it back on him through the muggles," Voldemort said airily as he looked at the summons in bemusement.

"You did it on purpose," Harry accused from his place stuck on the couch. He still got woozy from his concussion but at least he'd stopped throwing up and was properly aware. The potion that Severus had made him drink when they got home would keep his brain from hemorrhaging and encourage his magic to help fix the damage. It still didn't stop some of the symptoms of the damage that was already there, brain and head injuries were tricky even with magic.

"Brat, I'm fairly certain he started it to get back at that whale of a man and then changed it to get us out of there without looking like we were completely insane," Severus grunted, cuddling Harry into his side as they drank their tea.

"They are meeting now and would like you to attend immediately to help resolve this situation," Lucius said tactfully. His attempt at modulating the summons failed miserably.

"You mean they demand our presence and an explanation on the grounds of putting everyone at risk. No matter how terrified of me they may be they can't afford to ignore this. They especially can't ignore it since the Obliviators never got the signal to act as no actual magic was involved nor was the word magic used," Voldemort corrected with an amused snort of disgust.

"Who is listed in the summons?" Severus asked with a frown.

"All three of us," Voldemort said with a sigh after opening the message and skimming it. Nagini chuckled off in the corner, scaring Lucius as she shot by him to curl around Voldemort's leg, nearly knocking him down.

"~May I come with you? I want a word with these stupid two-leggers that dare to tell my Tom what to do,~" Nagini cackled, tightening her coils in a way that told Voldemort he probably wasn't going to win the argument if he said no.

"~If you protect Harry and Severus while we're there. Many will want them dead when it is known that my mates carry my hatchlings,~" Voldemort warned.

"~Of course,~" Nagini said in a completely affronted tone that made Voldemort suspicious. He suspected that she would try to bite certain people and pass it off as protecting Harry and Severus but she also wouldn't risk his husbands. Voldemort nodded his acceptance and, after re-positioning Nagini, picked up Harry. In less than ten minutes the small family was on its way to the ministry, escorted by a somewhat worried Lucius. It didn't take long to get through security with the Malfoy Lord at their elbow and less than 20 min. later they were pushing open the door to the room hosting the Wizengamot.

"They have broken the statute of secrecy!" Dumbledore said stubbornly, his words telling the new arrivals what was being discussed. "That is treason of the highest order!"

"Isn't that exactly what you wanted? No statute of secrecy and regular mingling with muggles?" Voldemort drawled as the trio plus Lucius walked into the Wizengamot session already in progress. "That _is_ what you've been advocating for nearly fifty years. Also, if you are going to insist on calling it treason what about how you've consistently gotten various people off with no more than a warning for actually using magic in front of muggles? I merely talked at them. I didn't once mention magic nor did I display it in any fashion. As far as they are concerned I was probably worried about our people being naturally stronger or faster than most people... unless some idiot came behind me and actually explained that it was magic. The closest thing they would think anything but some random talent up for was the crack of apparation when we were out of sight, which they likely attributed to the breaking branch in a nearby tree. I did not put us at as much risk as you have consistently done so with your lax treatment of anyone in your camp and refusing to inform muggle students as to the risks they are taking."

"Dursley _attacked_ our _pregnant_ husband. We would have been well within our rights and within our laws to curse him into a blob of mush. Harry is still recovering from the concussion that whale gave him and both Dursley men physically attacked the Dark Lord. You can thank Harry's influence that he responded in kind rather than with magic, protecting us as I tended to Harry," Severus snarled at the assembled Lords. "If the Dark Lord had a mind to he could have slaughtered the entire crowd and would have been within his rights according to our laws. The only real damage he did was a few bruises to Harry's relatives and giving an incredibly vague explanation on why the grown man would sneak attack and try to kill Harry while calling us Demons."

Voldemort took the chance that Severus provided as he spoke to conjure a comfortable couch for the three of them and set Harry down as Lucius took his own normal seat and Nagini settled at their feet.

"I'd rather you hadn't mentioned that I engaged in fisticuffs with the brute," Voldemort said with a put upon sigh that made Harry snicker. The vivid bruising on Harry's face spoke for its self, making many Wizengamot members extremely uncomfortable.

"Why was Mr. Potter's injury not healed?" Madam Bones asked sternly.

"Because the incident happened yesterday, I was more concerned about the concussion and probable bone damage. We also didn't have any bruise balm on hand nor had we the chance to brew it," Severus pointed out sarcastically. "We are mostly agreed as a family that buying a pre-made potions is only for the most dire of circumstances because it leaves us open for attack by Dumbledore's little club. Not to mention I am a Potions Master and have taught most British brewers in the last twenty years. I simply don't trust the brews of many people aside from my own and a very few others. Why would I subject my family to suspect brews?"

"Sev, our Dark Lord was good. If he can keep his temper with the old goat we should reward him when we get home," Harry said with a giggle, adding to the image of the man being whipped instead of overly protective. Voldemort grumbled a bit but didn't object. He liked the idea of a treat from his husbands and the apparent softening of his image was being somewhat helpful. He could always kill anyone who thought to challenge him on that basis.

"This is highly irregular," Someone said in a warbling voice. The nearly circular meeting table had an opening for any special presenters or witnesses which is exactly where the dark trio had their couch, completing the circle.

"That seems to be how our brat's luck works... deal with it," Voldemort said grumpily, sending Harry into peels of laughter that rang around the high vaulted room.

Nagini tapped a special pattern on a barely visible image inlaid into the floor near where the couch had been conjured before slithering over it. Everyone watched as she briefly glowed purple before slithering back to her spot in front of the three wizards.

"Snake, what did you just do?" Severus asked Nagini suspiciously, confident that one of his husbands would translate for him. It came as a shock to everyone that Nagini's words came out in English.

"I wanted to be able to yell at them properly," Nagini informed them with a hissy undertone.

"Did we know about that feature of the meeting chamber?" Someone seated around the middle of Dumbledore's left asked his neighbor who answered with a helpless shrug.

Voldemort groaned as he buried his face in his hands. He never wanted the public and especially his enemies to know how his familiar treated him like her son, now it was impossible to keep it a secret because Nagini would never allow herself to be silenced. There was no way he was getting out of this meeting without some serious embarrassment. Hopefully the promised scolding for his enemies would be enough to off-set that.

"Husband, did you think that you actually managed to hide how she treats you?" Harry asked with obvious amusement. Voldemort muttered something snarky that was muffled by his hands but earned him a tight hug from Harry. "Trust me, she's not the worst mother-in-law. Imagine having to deal with Bellatrix as a mother-in-law or my Aunt Petunia. I think I'd find a way to get Bellatrix committed so that she wouldn't act all creepy about the babies once they were born and you would kill Aunt Petunia the first time she raised a skillet to whack us with."

"No you wouldn't, not unless she posed an actual threat instead of just acting strange. She's too good of a duelist and the way Dumbledore has been acting we need the extra protection her skills provide," Severus said in a self depreciating manner that clearly indicated he didn't want her around either. That's when he turned serious, addressing the commentary on Lily's sister. "You didn't tell us that Petunia hit you with a cooking skillet."

"It taught me how to dodge and I learned how not bendy cast iron is," Harry said in unconcern. Nagini lifted her tail to lightly whack him between the eyes.

"You do not let people hurt you. They were not trying to teach you, they wanted you hurt so you couldn't meet my Tommy properly and have hatchlings together. You do not let people hurt you or your hatchlings," Nagini scolded fiercely. "You must take care of yourself and the hatchling growing in your belly. You are worth more than the nasty ones and don't deserve to be hurt. The old fool goat has hurt all three of you using the actions of others to try and break you. None of you are broken to his command the way he wanted and now you are healing. You do not let others get away with hurting you or your mates or your hatchlings."

"Yes, Nagini," Harry said meekly, earning a somewhat relieved smile from both of his husbands and a sick look at the implications from some of the smarter Wizengamot members.

"Look, I've tried introducing the changes the legal way. I tried getting a job at the ministry when I was younger but Dumbledore has repeatedly blocked and/or vilified me. I have been denied my rights on the grounds that I won't obey Dumbledore blindly and the fact that I didn't have an older magical relative to teach me. I want safety for all magical children. I want our traditions returned since we are not muggles and Dumbledore's insistence on everyone being treated as muggles is disgusting and damaging to our world as a whole. Dumbledore's policies get 3/4ths of all muggleborn children killed before they ever reach Hogwarts and an additional 1/3 of the remaining children are repeatedly returned to abusive homes on the grounds that you can not do harm to your own blood and family. Those not living with blood relations are sent back on the grounds that there is no where else for them to go. Dumbledore goes out of his way to ensure that _our children_ see him as the ultimate authority and as a god-like figure with all of the answers. Any attempt to find something different than what Dumbledore has divinely decided is to be considered sacrilege and the person punished. Preferably utterly destroying the person for even suggesting that the old man could be potentially wrong," Voldemort explained impatiently, deciding to take advantage of this mostly peaceful get together of people on both sides.

"What about the raids?" Dodge demanded aggressively.

"When you make a mistake in a powerful ritual there are consequences. I paid with my sanity from the time I was 16 until my return just after the Tri-wizard Tournament. That said it was Dumbledore who allowed me access to that ritual in the first place because Slughorn would never have considered giving me that tome unless Dumbledore suggested it. Its been too many years to check and see if the old potions brewer was compelled to give it to me or if the magic was placed on the book. Dumbledore has literally vilified me since I was eleven just as he has done the exact opposite to my husband, Harry. My fight is for the most part with Dumbledore alone, he's the one who dragged the rest of the wizarding world into this. I am of a pureblood line, raised in an abusive muggle orphanage which I repeatedly tried to leave so that I could heal from the damage being inflicted by the other children and so called caretakers. A place that Dumbledore forcefully and repeatedly returned me to," Voldemort said in a mix of dry mouth and fury that only Harry's hold on him kept his emotions safely in check.

"Do you know what repeated exorcisms and murder attempts do to a hatchling? Especially, when literally everyone around them would love to see the hatchling dead? You are lucky that my Tom had me to talk to and cradle to sleep. You are lucky my Tom did not decide to use the dangerous muggle things that fell from the sky to gain revenge on you for not rescuing him and protecting him as a hatchling. You are lucky that my Tom does not blame all of you for every time that someone tried to kill him, or starved him, or told lies about him. My Tommy never knew but his madness was more punishment for all of you from the Lady of Magic than for him. She even gave him fitting mates and hatchlings are on the way. My Tom is strong and his venom is powerful. The Magic Lady promised me his madness would not last forever but that his mates had to be ready to match him. I am to wait until the venom in my fangs burns with power and fire and darkness before striking at the Lady's target so that my Tom won't be hurt again. I don't know who the target is only that they have hurt my Tom many times," Nagini informed them all gravely.

The combination of Nagini's testimony and Voldemort's shocked most of the Wizengamot. As they turned towards Dumbledore to demand answers they realized that the magic of the room had frozen him in place, trapping him in aware immobility. Dumbledore's half raised wand, just under the table, aimed in the general direction of the trio was enough to explain why the security magics kicked in. Whatever he had been about to cast was with malicious intent regardless of whether the spell its self would have been harmless. This was indicated by the pearly sheen covering him rather than an oily black one that would have covered him had it been a spell that would have caused actual harm. The security magics were also the obvious reason why he hadn't interrupted or otherwise objected to the words spoken, he couldn't even open his mouth.

"Even I know better than to do that. I wonder what he was so desperate to hide that he made the attempt?" Voldemort asked with arched eyebrow. His eyes twinkled in amusement as his husbands snuggled up against him on the couch and Nagini laughed uproariously at his feet.

"The actions of Tom Marvolo Riddle, Severus Tobias Snape, and Harry James Potter as of the incident at the Zoo are deemed by this body to have been within their rights to defend themselves," Madam Bones decreed, making it official with a bang of the gavel. "Thank you for explaining things we have clearly missed in the course of this investigation. All charges relating to this incident will be dropped. The Department of Family Affairs and the Aurors will take another look at our underage muggleborn population and will jointly look at any proposal you three may put together that addresses this issue. Should the proposal be accepted you would be in charge of organizing and funding the project. It would also be considered a private project and subject to ministry investigation on a regular basis to ensure the good treatment of any participating children."

"Thank you," Voldemort stuttered, wide eyed as Nagini cooed at him, just as pleased with the outcome.

"Once Dumbledore is freed from the security magics he will be up on charges for his actions and will be held pending the results of the investigation. As per the promise of the summons you retain safe passage for the rest of the day. I suggest you enjoy it. As a courtesy I will have all arrest warrants and orders re-examined and personally remove any that have been issued falsely with the complete list of status changes provided for publishing in the Daily Prophet," Madam Bones told them.

"Good! I don't like so many of the more shifty minions around my Tom's mates and the coming hatchlings. I can taste how many of them would kill his mates and hatchlings because they can not have my Tom," Nagini said grumpily. She quickly ushered her three wizards out the door towards home.


	20. Slytherin Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fluff... Enjoy!  
> Wow, I'm on a roll tonight. 3 chapters in 12 hours.... and now my body is demanding sleep. Eh, I got past the hard part. *grin*  
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Did you just game not only the Wizarding World via the Leaky Cauldron, a random group of muggles, and the Wizengamot with a slanted version of the truth?" Harry asked suspiciously once the door to their rooms were shut. Voldemort couldn't hold it any more he burst out in evil cackles of glee that spooked Severus enough for the man to shove his smaller husband behind him.

"My Tom has always been good at making people see what he sees or making them see and do what he wants," Nagini said fondly, still speaking in hiss laden English. The spell work that translated her words wouldn't wear off until morning and could be renewed by a quick trip to the Wizengamot room. If she didn't renew it after a week she would have to do the process all over again to get it to work.

"Their arrest warrants for us are not only completely invalidated but any future attempts by nearly anyone else and especially by the light will look like Dumbledore trying to get at us," Severus concluded in surprised awe once he'd figured it out. "He _has_ to protect our freedom of movement or he starts getting called the evil one. Madam Bones practically promised that half or more of our forces would be able to move about freely once she was done checking over the arrest warrants."

"You protected us without killing anyone," Harry said, blinking his eyes in dumbfounded astonishment.

"Yes, I can defend you without resorting to violence," Voldemort said dryly, still chuckling at his own mad scheme working better than he had hoped. He swept his husbands up and dumped them on the couch, humming happily as he got everything set up for them to comfortably spend the rest of the day lounging in their nominal family room.

"Silly Tom," Nagini said in clear amusement at her wizard's good mood as she settled next to the lit fire place. "I'm glad that you had fun. I haven't seen you this happy since... a very long time, except when you took your mates and when you found out about the hatchlings. A happy Tom is a good Tom."

Voldemort didn't bother to argue the point instead choosing to cuddle up with his two husbands on the couch, sighing happily as he promptly fell asleep.

"Why did we marry an evil genius?" Harry asked his brew master husband.

"Because he promised us something we badly wanted, family," Severus answered softly before turning to his new potions journal, provided by Voldemort, and settling in to read. Harry thought about it and nodded his agreement before turning to his own book. The three happily passed the rest of the day away reading and cuddling together on the couch.

They spent the next several months getting Harry up to speed with his forgotten schooling and planning out the proposal for the muggleborns. Christmas had passed with a blissful day in bed together and a formal supper with the Inner Circle. The gifts had been meticulously checked by the house elves and most of the ones from the Order to Harry had to be disenchanted or destroyed. Harry was very happy he had warned the elves that any gift from the twins was to be checked only for malicious spellwork. 

Hidden inside what the twins had sent him, a box of pranks, was the gifts from the two eldest Weasley boys and their father. Bill explained in his letter that they hadn't known until Molly told them Harry wouldn't be there for Christmas. They were completely disgusted with Molly, Ginny, and Ron since the plan for dosing Harry with a love potion had been let slip. The three disgraced Weasleys thought the rest of the family hadn't heard them since the twins had taken down the privacy charm in preparation for a prank on Ron. All five Weasleys, Bill, Charlie, Arthur, and the twins swore loyalty to Harry and promised that he was still family.

"I remember how Bella captured the two of you and gave you to me on the first Hogsmeade weekend of the year," Voldemort said fondly, watching as Harry opened his gifts and Severus cradled his new ancient potions tome protectively.

"That was a nasty fight. I'm glad that only the two of us were captured," Harry agreed before munching happily on the chocolate frog in his hand.

"Now that you actually apply yourself you are nearly done the first month of lessons for your next year. We'll have to get you to the ministry to take your tests at some point," Severus said with evil humor.

"... you've been waiting to spring that on me for a while haven't you?" Harry accused as he swallowed the piece of chocolate he had nearly choked on.

"Harry, you are of age since the Tri-wizard Tournament and your body subtly aged to seventeen during that entire fiasco. You were just missing the height. Emotionally you're probably closer to 25 at minimum because of the life you've had to live. Yes you can act younger than your technical and/or emotional age but everyone does that from time to time. You aren't a bully or immature and you are our husband. We simply want everyone else to recognize what we see in you every day. A strong, fully mature wizard. To do that you have to pass your OWLs and NEWTs. You've passed every test we've tossed at you and we don't want you to think less of yourself because you had to leave Hogwarts before taking them," Voldemort explained with a chuckle. He thought Harry's expression of realization was cute and had to fight back the need to cuddle his smaller husband.

"So can the Weasleys visit? Or at least the ones that promised I'm still family?" Harry asked, choosing to switch the subject.

"Maybe when things are more settled and we've had a chance to test them. I have no doubt that those five are loyal but as you saw yourself Dumbledore will use everything to his advantage and they may not know they are compromised until we check them," Severus pointed out.

"Alright," Harry said with a wistful sigh.

"That's not no, its not right now," Voldemort pointed out, enjoying Harry's pout at the destruction of his sympathy ploy. "We don't want one of their pranks or Dumbledore's ploys to hurt the babies."

"Oh, that makes sense," Harry agreed instantly, understanding the logic even as he turned back to the pile of presents for them. Their present opening party was later interrupted by a cranky Nagini running away from a drunk Bellatrix but was overall peaceful.


	21. Understanding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More Fluff.... my muse apparently wants the fluff badly  
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So is Nagini still hiding from Bellatrix?" Harry asked one morning in late January.

"Yes, her attempts to turn Nagini into a living cuddle toy on Christmas Eve, Christmas, Boxing Day, and New Years have Nagini actively hiding under our bed. Though she's currently under the desk," Voldemort admitted sheepishly. He didn't bother to look up from the paperwork he was trying to complete before his husbands wanted him. Which is exactly why Harry decided to tackle him, nearly knocking both them and the chair over.

"And what has you so excited?" Voldemort asked in amusement, wandlessly cleaning up the spilt ink.

"My morning sickness is gone!" Harry said pleased with himself. "Sev said its early for it to be gone but then he had to run for the loo since he still has it."

"If I had thought the two of you would be awake I would have been there with both of you. I thought I had at least another hour or two," Voldemort admitted, cuddling the smaller wizard close.

"We stayed away from the alcohol and the caffeine like you asked and went to bed early. You had to stay up for the rest of the meeting," Harry pointed out reasonably.

"Brat, just because you haven't had to run for the loo today doesn't mean you won't have to. I said that you looked fine this morning, not that your morning sickness was gone. It may be called morning sickness but it can happen at any time," Severus grumbled sourly as he wandered into the room to steal his ruby-eyed husband's cup of herbal tea. His face took on a look of bliss as he drank the hot special tea that they had all switched to once the morning sickness had kicked in. His messy bed hair rivaled Harry's and just made both of his husbands think him adorable in that moment.

"~Crazy Woman!~" Nagini hissed from where she was currently cowering under the conjured desk that Voldemort had been using to do his paperwork.

"~And you wondered why I didn't want her as a mate,~" Voldemort snorted in amusement, kissing both of his husbands good morning and sending the paperwork off to where it was supposed to be while vanishing the desk. Nagini made a displeased noise before hurrying off to cower under their bed in the other room.

"~She can't have you!~" Harry hissed, becoming suddenly clingy and clutched at his currently trapped husband.

"What did you do to set him off?" Severus asked with a resigned tone of voice as he finally opened his eyes and saw Voldemort struggling to breath.

"Bellatrix can't have him!" Harry said peevishly, clutching even tighter.

"Do you honestly think we would let her near him? We don't share him," Severus said firmly but gently, coaxing Harry into letting go and cuddling into his side instead. Harry was almost instantly asleep on his feet.

"His reactions are still extreme," Voldemort said worriedly if a bit quietly.

"We're lucky that he's recovering nicely from the abuse at a decent pace and that the baby isn't suffering for it. If all we have to deal with is extreme mood swings I will be grateful. Our pregnancies are high risk in large part because of the injuries we have sustained over the years. In fact if the magic from our cores weren't so strong its likely that we never would have been able to carry children and our ability to sire them would have been damaged as well. If you had stayed away from us instead of hovering there is a very good chance we would already have lost one or both of the babes and possibly died ourselves with them," Severus explained softly, taking another sip of his stolen tea. He didn't want to wake Harry either, no matter how strange it was for the imp to fall asleep standing up.

"Then I am grateful for them, and for both of you," Voldemort said sincerely as he stood up from his lone chair and hugged his husbands, careful not to wake Harry.

"We will either have to wait for after the babies are born or our brat will have to take most of his tests soon," Severus pointed out softly, enjoying the time with his family.

"Yes and to make it worse they finally got Dumbledore free of the security magics in the Wizengamot meeting room," Voldemort informed him with a mournful sigh.

"You just like thinking of him stuck as a statue and unable to play puppet master," Severus said with a snort of amusement.

"True," Voldemort said wickedly, slipping a magical stud earring out of his pocket before quickly attaching it to his husband's ear.

"Ouch! What did you just do?" Severus asked suspiciously even as he felt at his briefly pinched ear. An ear that now sported a circular stud that was half ruby and half emerald shaped in a yin-yang symbol. Voldemort hadn't bothered to put it in the lobe since he didn't want it coming out but instead put it high in the cartilage of his husband's right ear.

"Gave you an earring that will let you understand the rest of our family regardless of what language we happen to be speaking at the moment. I had to get blood from Harry and Nagini to make it work since the translation matrix is tied to each of us by blood and not the language that's being translated," Voldemort told him smugly.

"That was incredibly thoughtful," Severus said, giving his husband a soft smile.

"You're welcome, it should even translate for the children once they start providing sounds with any real meaning to them," Voldemort said smugly. He absently ran his hand through Harry's messy locks as they stood there basking in the sense of family. Severus whacked him lightly on the chest for being so smug before snuggling back into the other man's arms. They stayed like that until Harry decided to wake up again and drag them over to the couch so his feet would stop hurting while they stood.


	22. Adult Adoption

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I included elements that were requested by ThePhoenixandTheDragon & Adora Snape (SecondinCommand02). While they don't necessarily match exactly I thought I should mention who provided the idea. Enjoy!  
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harry and Severus were politely attending a Death Eater meeting with their husband when Bellatrix made an entrance so similar to what had happened to them it sent shivers down their spines. The only difference was who Bellatrix had kidnapped to throw at Voldemort's feet as Nagini hissed warningly at the crazy witch from near the pregnant wizards.

"Bella, we talked about this. The timing of a kidnapping needs to be planned carefully and there is a specially posted list of the people you can kidnap on the spur of a moment. I don't remember putting either of these two on that list," Voldemort said with tired patience. Hermione squeaked from her tumbled heap of limbs and clothes.

"How dare you!" spluttered Umbridge. Harry blinked in surprise. He had honestly forgotten about the bubblegum colored witch of a woman. From the suddenly darkening expression on Severus' face, he hadn't and Voldemort was likely to find out very quickly who the pink clad idiot was.

"Bella, did you happen to kidnap them with anything special in mind?" Severus asked with deceptive mildness that had Voldemort looking at them sharply.

"Itsy bitsy Granger is for Baby Potter and the pink one is a snack for Nagini," Bella explained happily.

"~Snack? Crazy one brought me a snack?~" Nagini asked with obvious interest.

"Likely she plans to snatch you up and cuddle you before you get the chance to eat the woman. Normally, I should object to you being fed anyone on principle but in this case I think I'll make an exception," Severus told the serpent dryly.

The rest of the Death Eaters had found out about the translation earring the same day that it had been given to the Potions Master. Watching the man chew out the serpent had been highly entertaining for everyone present. Nagini had meekly returned the wrapped chicken leg that the new recruit had brought to the meeting as a snack. Harry had diffused the situation by calmly explaining that Nagini's attempted theft was one of the reasons not to bring food to a meeting.

"~I think I'll wait until the crazy one is gone to eat my snack,~" Nagini said decidedly, earning a snort of amusement from the three wizards who could understand her.

"Harry? Professor Snape?!" Hermione asked with shock, untangling herself from the pink monstrosity that was Delores Umbridge and rolling a few feet away.

"Hi Hermione," Harry said happily. He wisely didn't try to move towards her but instead settled more firmly into the side of his dower husband. They had graduated from the floor to actual seats once the pregnancy was proven and had been announced. They were also allowed to mingle a bit with some of the Death Eaters after the meeting but Voldemort tended to hover. Most of the women Death Eaters viewed this indulgently and simply compensated for his presence as if he were a floating book or something while they talked.

"Miss. Granger," Severus said, inclining his head regally and giving her a slight smirk. A firmer grip on Harry was the only sign that he thought their imp would try to go to her.

"I'm missing something," Hermione concluded as she saw how happy her friend was and how not bloodthirsty to kill her that the Death Eaters were, barring Bellatrix's insanity. Everyone was ignoring Umbridge's spluttering and protests about being an important ministry employee, and how dare they kidnap her.

"Yes you are. Severus, why do you want to let Bellatrix feed the pink one to my familiar?" Voldemort asked archly.

"She's probably the one responsible for those scars we found on the back of Harry's hand. The rest of the staff would never have done that aside from you and your own time working with Quirrell," Severus summarized succinctly, glaring at Umbridge and letting more of his disgusted hatred for her seep into his expression.

"Even I never considered using a _blood quill_ of all things, much less would have forced him to use it enough to scar like that. There was a reason I was only insane enough to use a cruico the night I came back after the third task and otherwise stuck to things that wouldn't leave more than a scare or painless death," Voldemort disagreed. He turned instantly more predatory when looking at the red faced pink bitch whom someone had kindly silenced.

Voldemort's declaration had both of his husbands looking at him in surprise before understanding flashed across their faces and they quickly set their expressions to neutral with a touch of faint amused exasperation. Harry had been trapped by Dumbledore and the situation while Voldemort tried to stay mostly professional without leaving an actual threat in place. After all they had learned about the feared Dark Lord it made perfect sense to his husbands.

Hermione on the other hand had been not only watching this exchange but Bellatrix's happy little dance off to one side. Before she could stop herself Hermione blurted out, "Why aren't you on medication?"

"There aren't any potions to help with the Black Madness, Miss. Granger," Severus said dryly. "The only way to stabilize Bellatrix would be for a muggleborn to blood adopt her, diluting the Black blood enough to moderate the effects of so much dark magic use in the family."

"You didn't know until you read the genetic stuff I told all of you about," Harry said poking his husband gently in the side, which Severus manfully ignored.

"Harry? Translation?" Hermione asked with a surprised blink, still processing everything.

"Too much inbreeding for too long. I told them about the field of genetics and sold it by telling them about how it was started in ancient Greece or Rome or wherever it came from when we were first captured. They looked into it and now they want to add new blood to their families. Severus probably figured out from your comment that it would work in reverse to help fix stuff since blood adoptions are magic. Obviously muggles couldn't check that since they have to do it the long way with actual children and no one's bothered applying the plant grafting gene stuff to humans... yet. Which is probably a good thing since we don't need to be fighting part human abominations that are made by mad muggle scientists, we get enough of that with the magical accidents," Harry explained in obvious amusement.

Hermione visibly rearranged the knowledge in her brain to fit this new reality and immediately offered to try. "I'll test it. I don't mind adopting her if you think it would help. Your ideas act as a strange part of your luck anyway," Hermione said confidently, sending the quiet meeting even quieter as nearly everyone stared at the bushy haired girl.

"Severus?" Voldemort asked gently.

"It might work but knowing Bellatrix she would insist on Granger being adopted by someone pureblood, preferably into the House of Black," Severus said thoughtfully.

"Of which I'm the current Lord..." Harry pointed out, trailing off in thought.

"She's mine! No one else can marry her," Rabastan Lestrange declared forcefully, earning a ripple of laughter through the dark forces.

"Don't you think you should ask her first?" Hermione asked dryly, causing Harry to giggle. 

Harry had discovered over his time living with the Dark sect that the Lestrange brothers were actually very like the Weasley twins. He had also discovered that while Neville's parents were attacked in part because of the death of Bella's own child at the hand of Frank Longbottom Neville was never actually at risk from them. Like Voldemort the Lestranges, Bellatrix included, went out of their way to keep any children caught in the line of fire safe. As usual Harry's status had been strange in regards to that rule but there had been no hard feelings once things had been explained. Bella had even made him laugh by chasing a complaining Nagini around the room.

"~What? NOOO! Not the crazy one! Let me go!~" Nagini hissed in distress as Bellatrix managed to snatch her up and cuddle the 7 ft. serpent. Nagini had tried to sneak around while everyone was distracted and at least bite or chase Umbridge to a more suitable location _away_ from Bellatrix and thus out of capture range.

"Lovely little snakey-wakey," Bellatrix cooed, cuddling the reptile close and completely ignoring her attempts at escape.

"Nix, would you go to Gringotts and fetch a blood adoption potion please? I think we need to get this done before Miss. Granger changes her mind," Voldemort said dryly. The elf who had been standing off to one side in the shadows nodded and popped out of the room. Nix returned less than ten minutes later with the potion and a note indicating that the subjects of the adoption needed to register the change at the bank.

"We need a single drop of Miss. Granger's blood," Severus instructed, which Hermione quickly provided. The potion changed color and it took less than a moment with Bellatrix distracted by cuddling Nagini to spell the potion into her stomach. "As you probably already know normally this potion is taken at bed time or with a sleeping potion because some of the changes can be painful. As long as we don't rescue Nagini for the next hour or two she should be sufficiently distracted for it to barely matter."

"Unfortunately," Voldemort agreed with a grimace at the memory of some of Bellatrix's family training in pain tolerance.

"~Rescue me!~" Nagini begged her wizard.

"No," Severus told the serpent, cutting off one husband and making the other giggle. "You will distract her for the next several hours and receive several rabbits as compensation tonight. I also won't object if you settle at the foot of the bed."

"~You'll let me sleep near my Tom?~" Nagini asked cautiously. She missed cuddling with her wizard.

"I'll make him let you cuddle all of us tonight," Harry offered knowingly. Severus rolled his eyes but didn't object.

"~Alright,~" Nagini agreed quickly and quit fighting to escape.

"Congratulations Miss. Granger, its a dark witch," Severus said with a slightly evil smirk. Hermione's look of shocked understanding was priceless and had Harry busting a gut. No one said anything when Hermione nodded dumbly and watched her new adult daughter cuddle with the giant poisonous serpent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The meeting isn't over yet! Time to weigh in on what you want done to the pink toad and what you might like to see change in Bella as part of the adoption magic!


	23. The Fate of the Pink Toad

Umbridge was shoved off to the side, magically bound and gagged while the rest of the meeting moved on. No one left, eagerly waiting to see how the adoption would affect Bellatrix and wondering if this was another way in addition to their lord's orders to heal their families. Harry and Severus ignored the speculative looks aimed at them and at Hermione. Voldemort on the other hand became increasingly irritated over the looks, eventually expanding his throne and making his husbands join him so that he could cuddle them possessively. Hermione watched events with concern but didn't otherwise interfere, just being glad that she was mostly being ignored rather than facing down the horror stories Dumbledore tended to push about the Death Eater meetings.

Fenrir's late arrival to the meeting irritated Voldemort but didn't worry him too much. The instant hate the werewolf obviously had for Umbridge upon seeing her though definitely had ideas jumping about the Dark Lord's noggin. A discrete stinging hex brought the glaring alpha werewolf back to reality and kept him from going after the pink bitch immediately, knowing that he'd have a chance to speak later.

A couple hours after the adoption potion had been given to Bella she interrupted the meeting by falling to her knees with a sharp gasp. Holding tightly to Nagini as an anchor through the dizziness Bella fought to stay in a semi-up right position as her mind rearranged and her hair lightened. She barely registered the warmth that nearly burned low in her belly as her womb and eggs healed. A brief scream, quickly bit back, signaled the healing of much of her nervous system.

"Ow," Bella groused when the final piece of the adoption slid into place.

"Are you alright Bella?" Narcissa asked worriedly, hand raised hesitantly, unable to bring herself to her sister's side.

"Fine Cissy. My mind is a lot clearer than it used to be... Huh, that makes a lot more sense. Rudo? Mind helping your wife back to her feet?" Bella asked with a joyful yet slightly manic grin. Her husband quickly pulled her to her feet and hugged her close. Narcissa didn't waste any time leaving her own husband's side to scan her sister.

"Bella..." Narcissa was speechless as she took in the changes. Her sister's mind was showing signs of being organized normally, her womb showed no sign of the pureblood infertility problems, and her nervous system was as fresh and healed as any Healer could ever hope to achieve in a patient. When she started crying Bella freed an arm to tuck her sister into her side making hushing noises to sooth her.

"I'd say it worked," Harry observed with a happy smirk from his position wedged between Voldemort and the arm rest of the expanded throne.

"~Make the crazy one let me go!~" Nagini whined, startling a snort out of Severus who was seated on Voldemort's other side of the throne.

"Shush, my cute little snakey. Mommy, won't hurt my cute puppy-snake," Bella scolded gently, proving that she still might be somewhat crazy despite the sanity of her earlier words. Nagini whimpered but didn't fight to escape, trusting Voldemort to rescue her if she found that she couldn't stand the woman any longer.

"Thank you Miss. Granger, you've given me back my sister," Narcissa said regally once she'd gotten her tears back under control.

"You are welcome in our home," Lucius said in agreement coming up behind his wife and retrieving her from the arms of her sister. Then Lucius looked at Harry and Severus. "I offer my apologies for past mistakes and previous poor choices on my own part. I did not see what was in front of my own eyes and I thank you both, Severus and Harry, for showing me. I am in your debt."

"You were an idiot," Harry said bluntly, earning a half aborted chuckle from Severus. "I can't speak for Severus but I accept your apology for myself."

"You owe me a proper potions lab, fully stocked in addition to a later favor," Severus informed his friend. He'd never told anyone but that time years ago that Lucius had tried to rape him and Voldemort had stopped the man he'd gotten a little blood from the blond. Blood that had proven he wasn't working entirely under his own volition. It didn't excuse what had happened since Lucius had still had some control over his actions but it had made Severus less willing to simply castrate his friend for the attempt.

"I'm still not leaving you alone with my husbands. Severus and Harry may have accepted your apology but you have yet to prove to _me_ that I can trust you with them," Voldemort said bluntly.

Lucius bowed his head in recognition of the accusation/punishment and mentally vowed to fix the situation his own idiocy had wrought. Being on the wrong side of the Dark Lord and his family was not a good place to be. He also recognized that he had screwed up and that he didn't want to loose either his family or Severus' friendship, a risk he hadn't known he was taking until now.

"Can we address the pink creature now?" Fenrir asked eagerly. "I petition for a full court and punishment!"

Voldemort blinked in surprise at the alpha werewolf and thought about why Greyback might want her tried in a legal fashion that would hold up to the goblins of Gringotts even if the ministry refused the ruling. Yes, he'd already been planning on that after hearing about the blood quill so that his people would understand why he was so angry. That didn't explain... oh, of course.

"She's the one that's been writing up the anti-werewolf laws," Voldemort concluded aloud.

"She's the one who proposed that all weres be executed on sight with the cubs skinned for their fur, alive," Fenrir growled, setting the Death Eaters to ugly mutterings.

"She also used a blood quill on Hogwarts students as part of her so-called detentions. My younger husband has scars from her torture sessions," Voldemort admitted with a heavy sigh.

"Let me turn her, let me brand her so that all know she is outcast and cub-killer," Fenrir begged. He recognized that with Harry, Voldemort's mate, as one of the victims Voldemort had an equal claim on Umbridge's life as he did on behalf of his pack.

Instead of answering Voldemort summoned a pensive and magically slid the pink toad from her position tied and tossed against the wall to the floor in front of his throne. Turning to his husband he asked, "Harry? I need the memories of your detentions with her and of anything else wrong she might have done."

"Alright," Harry agreed quickly, providing the memories without protest. He also included the memory of his _trial_ and her words about his supposed lying. An after thought had him including the confrontation with the Dementors that prompted the farce of a trial in the first place. Thus proceeded a three hour expose of exactly how vicious and despicable Delores Umbridge was with Lucius putting his barrister training to use and providing the paperwork evidence on the vicious creature laws. Finally, came the verdict and the sentencing.

"Delores Umbridge, you have been found guilty of attempted murder via Dementor, multiple counts of torture of a minor with a dark artifact, illegal possession of a dark artifact. You have also been found guilty of threatening not only my family but the children of multiple houses and powerful families. Additionally, you have been found guilty of attempted implementation of genocide for any number of magical creatures. This information and the findings of this court shall be filed appropriately with the goblins and with the ministry. It shall also be published in the Daily Prophet, the Quibbler, and any other paper that is willing to carry it," Voldemort informed her with vicious satisfaction. "As requested by Alpha Greyback you will be first branded with a magic that can not be hidden or covered, listing your crimes. After which you are to be turned into a werewolf and left to fend for yourself, to be driven from every pack, every place of residence, every magical community until such time as you understand that which you attempted to inflict on others, lasting no less than 5 years. Anyone who offers you more than a weeks shelter, barring extreme inclement weather such as a snowstorm that would naturally trap muggles in their homes, is subject to first a warning before the goblins are informed of their transgression. I am assigning any further punishments for those who help you to the goblins as they would be best suited to determine the severity and if any action should be taken against those who take pity upon you. Any attempt for you to turn another person for any reason will result in imprisonment in Azkaban or enslavement to a vampire coven for the remainder of your life. You may appeal the isolation decision with the goblins and accept the alternative they offer without consequences. This is my ruling as the Dark Lord."

Harry buried himself in his husband's chest as the sentence was carried out, thankful for the silencing charm and privacy charms that his husbands put up; Bellatrix had thoughtfully done the same for Hermione. When the spells came down 45 minutes later the only sign she had ever been there was a quickly scourgified small pool of blood.

"~Why did you give my treat to the smelly dog?~" Nagini whined just as the enchantments came down. Her comment made Harry burst out laughing and distracted him from what had probably happened to the witch.

"Harry?" Hermione asked, pale faced.

"Nagini, the snake Bellatrix is cuddling, asked why we gave her treat to the smelly dog," Harry cackled, drawing a giggle out of his friend.

Rabastan and Rudolphus exchanged a smirk and than, with a discrete wave of their wands everyone not on the dais suddenly had robes in the color of pink, yellow, white or a mix. That set Harry off again in howling laughter and caused Voldemort to face palm.

"Lestrange?!" Voldemort called in obvious irritation.

"What? They needed to lighten up," Rudo said innocently.

"Lighten up? Lighten up! I'll show you lighten up!" Nott growled and started chasing the brothers around the room so reminiscent of the Weasley twins that both Harry and Hermione couldn't quit laughing. No more business was discussed and the meeting quickly degenerated into a prank war the likes of which none of them had seen in more than a decade.


	24. Hermione's Daughters

Hermione had been staying with the Malfoys as Bella's new mother for the past week since the meeting with Harry occasionally dropping in with a pair of grumpy husbands in tow. Narcissa had spent that time keeping Rabastan from being too obvious in his stalking of the young woman but Hermione had caught him grumbling about not having someone to negotiate a marriage contract with. Draco had been informed about the adoption and the way it had mellowed Bellatrix into someone eccentric but not someone dangerous even to family. Bella had also decided that she still liked kidnapping and cuddling Nagini whenever the small family visited and that Hermione had to know dueling better so that she could protect herself. Surprisingly, there was no insistence on getting Hermione adopted by someone of pureblood since she happily dived into learning pureblood customs. The second reason for this snuck up on Hermione after supper one night.

"Miss. Granger?" Narcissa asked softly, startling Hermione from the book she was reading.

"Mrs. Malfoy? What can I do for you?" Hermione asked, setting aside her book in favor of her hostess.

"Would you... would you mind adopting me as you did Bella? She's my sister and I... I've had trouble conceiving. Draco, I almost lost him so many times and he was born early. I..." Narcissa was helpless in trying to make her request, twisting a part of her dress with obvious nervousness.

"Do you have the potion?" Hermione asked with soft voiced concern.

The relief on the woman's face was palpable as she swiftly drew the potion from the pocket of her robes and offered it to the young witch. Hermione quickly pulled her wand, which had been returned after the meeting by Bellatrix, and used a weak slicing hex to get the needed blood before healing it. Narcissa didn't wait, the moment it was safe to she downed the adoption potion. The potion didn't take as long, not having to fight years of damage caused by being in Azkaban or on the battlefield but instead working with near perfect health with her own magic practically begging for the adoption like an eager puppy.

Narcissa's hair went from platinum blond to a dirty blond as heat started low in her belly. Unlike her sister who's damage mostly manifested as the Black Madness and the instability that came with it Narcissa's was mostly in her reproductive organs. The pain of the repair doubled her over, gasping as the cramp from hell forced a whimper from her lips. The burning in her blood didn't help much either as the change rushed through her body, fixing minor damage in nearly every corner of her flesh, blood, and bone.

Hermione quickly maneuvered the older woman into her chair and worried at her lip, wondering if she shouldn't fetch help, not that she knew where, who, or how to fetch it. 10 minutes later Narcissa slowly forced herself upright, breathing deeply as her lungs took in air that tasted sweeter then she had ever thought possible. A quick check with her wand and she was pulling the young witch into her arms, crying in relief. Which is how Lucius found them when he hurried into the room moments later, the wards having told him briefly that his wife had been in serious pain.

"Narcissa? Are you alright?" Lucius asked carefully, visually checking his wife for injuries or malignant magics and noting the change in hair color.

"It worked. Like with Bella, _it worked!_ " Narcissa sobbed. It took a moment for Lucius to understand what she ment before gaping at the pair of them as pure joy lit up his features. Hermione was somewhat relieved when he swept his wife up into his arms. She took the chance to sneak out of the room and leave them to their private celebration. Hermione didn't escape them for long, not that she had been trying, but they found her an hour after surfacing reading one of the books on pureblood history.

"I realize that this may be a bit... unusual but I would offer you the same thing that you have given my wife and sister-in-law," Lucius said carefully.

"I can do it for Draco if you like but if you adopt me the magic of the situation and the genetics might just put you all in a worse situation. From what I understand about pureblood family lines unless you all start becoming very accepting of muggleborns marrying into pureblood families and thus of halfbloods as well it won't take long to be back where you started. The infusion of fresh blood I gave to Bellatrix and Narcissa will only last for so long, for so many generations. I don't know if the magic will take my adoption by someone and transfer the same blood into anyone I have adopted or if it will only transfer to the people I might adopt after my adoption. Without understanding that we would be risking a great deal for you to adopt me and I already have parents," Hermione explained carefully with a bemused shake of her head.

"Then would you accept becoming an honorary Malfoy?" Lucius inquired. "It doesn't happen often but there are provisions among purebloods for an adoption without blood. Your blood wouldn't change but you would be considered a Malfoy and a pureblood. From what you've just done and what my lord has ordered us to read about genetics this situation may be the very reason that the practice was begun. Though I do not know why it fell by the wayside if that is the case."

"I... would have to talk to my parents but... yes, if you don't mind," Hermione offered somewhat shyly. She had thought about this possibility since the meeting and concluded that Snape was right. She had also figured out that this was her ticket to learning the things she had been mocked for not knowing since entering this new world and understanding enough to succeed. What Harry had given her, however inadvertently, was more than Dumbledore had ever tried to bribe her with. Hermione was unaccountably glad she'd always turned the man down and instead tried to get Harry and Ron to tell the man himself, Firebolt incident in third year not withstanding.

"Then its settled," Narcissa said happily.

"Welcome to the family," Lucius told her just as happily.


	25. 5 x Weasley

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More evidence that the light are idiots and Weasleys are usually good people. *smirk*  
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Fred and George were mad, no they were absolutely furious. Arthur, Charlie, and Bill weren't much better in the temper department. They didn't like being kept away from Harry nor did they like how the order kept talking about getting him back and making sure he did his _duty_. Dumbledore was still stuck in lockdown at the Ministry despite being removed from being stuck in the security magics, for which the Weasleys loyal to Harry were grateful. They really didn't like what they were hearing from the Order members, especially since it had been made clear that it was _Dumbledore's idea_ in the first place.

If the love potion idea to force Harry into marrying Ginny and controlled through his children wasn't bad enough the Order was now discussing a variation on _slavery_ of all things. Not just slavery, they were planning to force Harry into fighting Voldemort and every last one of his followers to the death! To say that Harry's five Weasleys were pissed was an understatement. To top it off they couldn't vent or object or be seen in any way disagreeing, not with the Order holding meetings at the Burrow and with Molly, Ron, and Ginny in the house every weekend to tip off everyone else.

Arthur had gotten fed up enough with their inability to even _talk_ safely that he gave the twins his blessing in taking their extra OWLs and NEWTs early. Molly was pissed when she found out that they were moving out. Arthur going with them to "settle in" didn't make her any happier.

" _ **WHAT?!**_ " Molly screeched, swinging around from the breakfast she was cooking, spoon in one hand as she faced her husband and sons.

"The twins have gotten a financial backer for their prank store and asked me, Bill, and Charlie to help them set up and settle in above the shop. It will only be for a month or two, Mollywobbles, then I'll be coming home again as usual. Unless something truly outlandish happens it will just be me and the boys. A little bonding time. They took their NEWTs last Hogsmeade weekend, with my permission, and part of the agreement is that they have to keep studying. I've given them five years to take their Masters and any additional NEWTs. If they don't then they have to apologize to their backer, return to Hogwarts for their other NEWTs, and take an apprenticeship with Bill or Charlie. If Percy decides that he wants to be part of the family again he will be added to the apprenticeship options," Arthur said calmly as he sipped his morning tea.

The four boys in question exchanged discrete impressed looks. Who knew their father could handle their mother so well?

"They shouldn't even _be_ working with that nonsense!" Molly protested, slightly mollified by Arthur's listed conditions for the twins.

"Molly, the twins will never give up on pranking. This way if they fail they will have other options and they will learn the value of hard work. I've met their backer, despite the twins not wanting to give up his name, and he is an honorable young man. The money he already gave them had certain conditions for its use and they have been succeeding marvelously. They didn't want to tell us because it was proof to us that they could succeed and prove to their backer that they were serious about the business. By doing this they have shown that they aren't stupid, they aren't goofing around, and they won't let anything stop them. I got them to show me proof of their determination, which was why I helped them with getting their NEWTs early and agreed to the shop. The three of us will be there to help them for the first two months, which is why I won't be home," Arthur explained calmly.

Molly couldn't say anything to that and the smell of something starting to burn quickly redirected her attention back to making breakfast. Arthur smirked a little at the admiring looks from his four older sons. He was glad that he hadn't gotten Ginny and Ron out of school for the weekend since his wife's yelling was more than enough to deal with. The withdrawal of the twins from Hogwarts with an explanation of the situation and proof of their NEWTs had gone off without a hitch since McGonagall was temporary Headmistress with Albus in holding and Umbridge missing.

"This is going to be bloody awesome," Fred murmured and George nodded his agreement.

Bill and Charlie just smirked at their younger siblings. The shop was being seen to and opened earlier than the twins had planned but it was the perfect excuse to reward the mischievous duo for their hard work and get away from the idiot Order. They would be gone before the meeting that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll likely have more up tonight or tomorrow... Musey likes what's happening.
> 
> Edit - 9/9/17:  
> I finally fixed the OWL/NEWT mix up in this chapter. Sorry it took so long!


	26. Gift Wrapped

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter as promised!  
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

The five Weasley men congratulated themselves on escaping Molly immediately after breakfast. Since it was Saturday Arthur, Bill, and Charlie didn't have to take time off to help the twins move into the flat above the shop and sort out their own sleeping spots. What they didn't expect to find after putting away their things was visitors.

"Hello?" Arthur asked cautiously, gripping his wand tightly as he stepped in front of his boys. They were facing down a group of Death Eaters but since the five intruders hadn't attacked and Harry was currently staying with the Dark sect there was some potential leeway with intentions.

"Your intentions towards Potter, our Lord, and Potions Master Snape?" Lucius demanded from behind his mask.

"Lucius?!" Arthur asked in shock, recognizing the voice of his college. "Ah.. yes, our intentions. Nothing malicious to Harry, the five of us consider him family, blood even if he doesn't yet have the Weasley magic and blood. No real comment on Severus except that I always thought the others were being to harsh with him. I am sad to say I valued peace in my household more than consistently standing up for him, a choice I regret. The Dark Lord... well that depends entirely on how he's been treating my son."

"And your brood?" Lucius asked suspiciously.

"We stand with Harry," Charlie said stubbornly. "I can't speak for Mum, Percy, Ron, or Ginny but from what we've overheard in the last couple of months I wouldn't trust them anywhere near Harry."

" **Yeah,** " the twins agreed vehemently.

"I have some information from the goblins that they don't have and I have to say from what I now know I'm glad that Bellatrix captured Harry, even if we miss him," Bill said softly with a sad smile. "We're helping the twins with their new shop partly to get away from the Order idiots. They want to enslave Harry and force him to fight your Lord and every last one of you to the death single-handedly. The problem was we couldn't just walk out no matter how sick their plans made us. I think I speak for all five of us when I say that if Harry wants to visit he is always welcome."

"He owns a third of the shop and the business anyway," Fred admitted with a smirk matched by his twin.

The five redheads didn't have time to react before being hit by stunners.

The redheads woke slowly, with many groans of complaint that quickly turned into annoyed grumbles at discovering they were tied up. None of them were stupid and they hadn't been harmed making the situation for the moment only a little worse than when the twins went on a pranking spree. No, what made them freeze was the hissy laughter of a snake.

"And what have you brought me Luciusss?" Voldemort asked, adding an extra hiss to his voice to indicate he wasn't pleased with what he was seeing.

"Gift wrapped Weasleys, for your husband my lord. They were questioned as to their intentions towards your family before being taken. As you know my family has adopted Miss. Granger but I wanted to express my appreciation to your husband for... smoothing over that volatile situation and reminding me why I started this in the first place," Lucius said smoothly.

"Oh? And why might that be. I wish to be certain that your reasoning is the same as I remember," Voldemort hissed distrustfully. He still wasn't happy with the man over the various attempts against his husbands.

"For reminding me that I wanted protection and prosperity for my family. I almost lost them due to my own foolishness and I angered you in the process. I wished for neither. This is part of my attempt at reparations," Lucius admitted candidly.

"Voldemort? What have your idiot minions done now?" Harry asked grumpily, his padding footsteps nearly silent on the marble floor.

"Harry, you should still be in bed with Severus," Voldemort said with obvious concern. The Weasleys could barely stifle their disbelief and somewhat feign unconsciousness, not only did the Dark Lord seem to be a dotting partner but he sounded actually concerned for Harry.

"We're pregnant, not dying, and anyway shouldn't you be with us? Whatever Lucius did now you can spend another hour with your husbands before dealing with it," Harry asked in clear annoyance.

"It is actually for you Little Lord. I brought a gift," Lucius told the smaller wizard. Harry's yelp of surprise told the twins that their sable haired brother had finally noticed them. It was the straw that broke the camel's back as it sent all five captives into various forms of laughter as they quit pretending they were still out cold.

"Hi Harry!" the twins chorused as they opened their eyes to see their brother starring at the five of them in wide-eyed shock.

"Lucius would you mind untying us? We want to greet Harry properly," Arthur said in long suffering patience that the twins were proud to have taught him with their pranks.

"No, not until they're checked for spells, potions, and any other nasty little thing that Dumbledore or his order may have tagged them with," Voldemort said firmly. He hadn't wasted any time in moving to keep himself protectively between his husband and the new arrivals.

"You're being paranoid again," Harry pointed out with his own long suffering sigh.

"You're my husband, my _pregnant_ husband, and I am the Dark Lord. I have every right to be paranoid about your safety," Voldemort informed him sternly.

"If you don't let them up and let me say hello properly I'll introduce the twins to Rabastan and Rudolphus within the next day instead of giving you time to plan a counter attack on any pranks," Harry threatened. "You can check them after."

"They haven't been cleared and I _will not risk you_. You can talk to them after they've been checked over by a curse-breaker, a healer, and Rookwood not before," Voldemort argued stubbornly.

"What can the old coot do? He's still in lock down at the ministry," Harry pointed out with a roll of his eyes.

"He's not the only one in that insane little Order to have the skills to hide things on your presents that will be harmless to anyone but you. Dumbledore had plenty of time to collect your magic signature and the spell could easily be left on them but trigger only for you," Voldemort told him, ending the argument.

"Bill is a curse-breaker for Gringotts," Harry said simply.

"They're still getting checked but I'll concede to bring in a goblin to examine them in case its something exotic that got missed in William's routine checks at work," Voldemort countered.

"You've been paranoid ever since you got the two of us pregnant," Harry grumbled good naturedly. He gave his husband a kiss and snuggled into the man's arms.

"You can't butter me up into letting you near them but you can say hello from here. They are, however, remaining where they are and they will remain restrained until checked," Voldemort grumbled, mollified by Harry cuddled up against his side.

"You tamed the Dark Lord!" the twins exclaimed. Harry just smirked at them and basked in his husband's embrace.

"Son, I understand why you didn't invite us to your wedding but you couldn't have found a way to tell us?" Arthur asked with an amused smirk that made Harry blush in embarrassment.

"Welcome to the family, if you hurt him you'll have rabid Weasleys out for your blood," Bill said cheerily as all five redheads took on evil grins which they turned on Voldemort who in turn wanted to take a step back.

"I'm also married to Professor Snape and no you can't hurt them. They're mine," Harry scolded the Weasleys with a giggle.

"You're our brother," George protested. "Of course we can threaten your hubbies if they hurt you!"

"Twin 1 and Twin 2 you may not prank my husbands without my permission," Harry said firmly, getting a playful pout from the identical duo. "Its time for your check up. We can eat together after and you can tell me how everyone is doing."

"We should probably tell you that now," Charlie admitted with a depressing sigh.

"What is it?" Harry asked warily.

"They want to either force you to marry Ginny or enslave you and make you fight the entire Dark sect to the death," Bill told them with a scowl. "They still don't know how you got turned dark and they really don't care. All they care about is using you as a weapon to kill off anyone against Dumbledore's marvelous plan for the Wizarding World."

"I'm really starting to hate that old man," Harry grumbled, his pain being shown only as a tighter grip on his husband and a slight whine in his voice.

"The Wizengamot is still gathering evidence against him and they've managed to keep him from talking to anybody as far as we know," Voldemort offered comfortingly.

"At least the wanker can't keep brainwashing students," Severus snarked from the doorway as he entered the room. A quick look had told him what had likely happened, either Lucius had kidnapped them to get on Harry's good side or Voldemort had ordered it as a treat for their brat. Either way he'd have to find a way to delay the Lestrange brothers from meeting the Weasley twins as much as possible... or get them set against each other, decisions decisions.

"Its time for both of you to take your potions. You can visit the redheads after they've been checked," Voldemort said insistently. Harry gave a small nod and everyone split up for their separate destinations.


	27. Spaghetti Supper

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully, Musey is satisfied for the night between three chapters and my notes for the next one because my hands are getting sore. ShadowsWithoutHope, I thank you for your earlier advocation against getting pressed for more but in this case it was Musey's fault. I know to obey/stop when my hands get too sore. Its a bitch to deal with them when they start cramping hard. I simply couldn't stop writing. *grin*  
> Enjoy!  
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

A ragged group of Weasleys joined the dark trio and the Malfoy and Lestrange families for dinner that night, much to Severus' continued cursing under his breath. Harry was amused by his husband's wariness in regards to unexpected pranking but was enjoying the reaction to much to tell him that the twins had silently agreed not to prank the man before they were hauled away for testing. Voldemort picked up on the strong thought of innocent Harry pranking Severus and blaming it on the twins through the Horcrux link and had to fight not to burst out laughing.

Rudolphus was dotting on his wife with the occasional look of gratitude sent to Harry, Hermione, or Voldemort. Rasbastan on the other hand stared hungrily at Hermione, making her uncomfortable until Narcissa levitated and stiffened a cloth napkin to smack him on the back of the head. This made the twins snicker, Rabastan look sheepish, and Hermione to look somewhat smug. Draco's mix of confused, haughty, and upset expression on the other hand had Harry fighting not to burst out laughing. The Malfoy heir was home for the weekend to meet his new adoptive sister and see for himself that his aunt wasn't as crazy any more.

"I am borrowing your twins," Voldemort told Harry, making him loose it completely. Everyone was treated to Harry's happy peels of laughter until he calmed down about 5 minutes later.

"Why are you asking me?" Harry asked with a residual chuckle.

"Because I am going to set them and the Lestrange brothers on the Order, maybe let Severus boss them around the potions lab to give them a good pranking stock," Voldemort said with an evil smirk before taking another bite of his spaghetti.

"That would be good. Sev held his own against the Marauders - Dad, Sirius, Pettigrew, and Lupin. He's probably got loads of pranks and ideas on what to use against them. I bet he could even get around your potion ingredient restriction to make some of the really awesome ones work," Harry said happily, turning his dour husband bright red in pleased embarrassment.

"I'm not lifting them. Those restrictions are in place to protect Severus and the baby," Voldemort informed them giving a warning look to his husband. Severus nodded his understanding and agreement while both sets of twin brothers started conspiring.

"The red menaces are decent brewers and are fairly good at experimentation. Rudo and Rab are also good though I haven't seen them make something overly complicated or unique so I can not judge their safety and creativity with experimentation. I will abide by the restrictions in place to avoid harm to the baby," Severus said pompously. Harry tugged playfully on a bit of his hair, earning a glare that was matched with a sunny smile and amused the rest of the people at the table.

"You still haven't told us if they had any spells on them," Harry pointed out, turning back to his food.

"William was clean aside from the standard monitoring charm placed as a part of his employment and likely left alone for that reason. The Dragon Handler had a few detrimental ones and a few tracking ones but most of what was found on him was standard because of his job. I believe that they were mostly left untouched because they are generally out of Dumbledore's reach. The twins had a great number of shattered obedience spells with many varied compulsion spells and a few low level power leeches. The signatures on those spells matched either their mother or Dumbledore respectively. I suspect they were more of a target since they were similar to your father's pranking group and in close proximity to you, though not as close as they could have been, for long periods of time. They, along with their father, had a few spells keyed specifically to trigger on your magical signature as I feared," Voldemort summarized, allowing Lucius to take over when he got to Arthur.

"Arthur, you were under numerous compulsions, loyalty potions, and there was love potion residue in your system. One of the compulsions was to exacerbate the conflict between our two families unless told otherwise by Dumbledore. Several of the loyalty potions focused on Dumbledore in his various capacities, which is one reason it took one of your family being a direct target for you to break any of them. Incidentally, your magic and the Weasley family magic have accepted Harry as your son, you need only to finish the adoption and for Harry to agree. I offer my sympathies and as Lord Malfoy no longer hold you responsible for our past personal conflicts. In keeping with this new knowledge I offer to help you sort out this mess and assist you in seeking reparations from the offending parties," Lucius informed his fellow family head regally.

"I thank you for the offer and gladly accept, acknowledging everything that goes with that. In addition I must warn you that while you have adopted Hermione I feel as though she is my daughter," Arthur countered just as regally. "I must ask that if we discover line theft and infidelity if you would help me to press charges against my... Molly."

"Of course we will. I never quite understood why you chose her over Amelia Bones," Narcissa agreed quickly.

"I am not entirely sure how I ended up in bed with Molly but she was pregnant with Bill and I am not a man to turn out my own child. We've been relatively happy but I hope you understand when I say that I dearly hope to find she hasn't betrayed me, betrayed our family," Arthur said candidly.

"Domestic disputes, even warranted ones tend to be nasty," Lucius pointed out with a sigh. "I offer sanctuary to your family should it be needed, even against one of your own."

"I gladly accept," Arthur said with obvious relief.

"So does that mean I have to be nice to Weasley?" Draco asked with barely hidden disdain.

"Not Ron or Ginny," the twins said bluntly.

"Ron and Ginny have sided with our mother and actually like the plan of keeping Harry dosed up on potions and practically enslaved if not actually enslaved," Bill reminded them with a sigh. "She's under the impression that she deserves to be Lady Potter at any cost."

"Arthur, you also suffered from multiple obliviates that have been left in place so that they can be removed safely at a better time but the shear number may make it too dangerous to make the attempt," Lucius informed him softly. "You aren't dense, nor are you a monster. Severus was kept from helping Potter by his position in both camps and Dumbledore's threats. It would appear that you were kept from interfering with how he was treated by memory removal. I don't know what else was removed or altered nor by whom but your mind has been directly tampered with."

Arthur and his boys went white. Such memory modification was dangerous, especially if it hid something that would tug so strongly on natural instincts as the protection of a child against harm. Every time that Arthur's mind had been tampered with to keep him from helping Harry had put him in mortal danger. Depending on how skilled the caster had been and Arthur's own attempt to fight the magic his memory might be totally irretrievable and any direct attempt to fix the damage could kill him. It was why mind magics, especially in healing, had to be done by a specialist.

"Bad?" Harry asked softly.

"Very," Severus answered seriously, hugging their imp to his side.

"I'm sorry I'm such a burden," Harry said sadly, getting suddenly weepy.

"You're not," Severus scolded sternly. "That's the hormones talking. Eat your garlic bread and relax. Let it pass and remember you, are, wanted."

"M'kay," Harry said wetly, munching on his bit of garlic bread and snuggling further into his husband's side. A tendril of Voldemort's magic reached out to wrap around his husbands calming them and giving them a comforting hug while everyone finished their supper.


	28. Double Bubble

The next morning both sets of twins, Lestrange and Weasley, reported to the potions lab that had become Severus' private domain. His firm scowl of wariness was one of the few things keeping them from pranking him.

"I dread what the four of you will create now that you have been introduced to one another. In light of this and the fact that these pranks will be brewed not only with the Dark Lord's blessing but Harry's as well I am forced to conclude that this is one of the lesser evils occurring to prevent a greater evil. As such from now on _I_ am in charge of any future brewing for pranks, including experimentation. In exchange for assisting me at times and keeping to any prank or brewing restriction I lay down I will promise to aid you in your own experiments and pranks. At the moment we have a restriction placed by the Dark Lord due to my pregnancy. Do. Not. Screw. This. Up!" Severus informed them sternly.

"My lord has restricted your brewing time when not helping us hasn't he?" Rudolphus asked cheekily. Severus' murderous expression was enough to set the two sets of twins to smirking even as they mentally started forming a rotating roster on who would work with him to keep him happy on non-prank days.

"Color changing potions, flatulence potions, candy drops laced with singing potions, anti-acne pastes laced with boil potions... you have three hours to brew them _from memory **begin**_!" Severus hissed at them vindictively, sending them scrambling about the lab for tools and ingredients as they started brewing.

An hour later Severus nodded off for nearly half an hour, having had a bad night previously and had refused to wake his husbands. Much to his horror the conversation turned quiet argument the Weasley twins were having woke him.

"We should really use that... muggle purple dragon's friendship song or the one that doesn't stop... the one that kid kept singing at the tube station," Fred suggested eagerly.

"I think we should do that teapot one and the little lamb one," George argued with a frown.

"Just do them all. Its not like you can't have the potion cycling between them," Rabastan pointed out helpfully.

"Yeah! That's right!" the two redheads crowed in delight, setting about doing just that.

Severus mentally groaned and wondered if he dared leave the lab with the four of them brewing... together. Deciding he didn't want to know he left the lab in an act that was so out of character it worried his husbands and went to take a nap.


End file.
